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CITY HALL TOWER BY NIGHT 













CITIZENSHIP IN 
PHILADELPHIA 


BY 

J. LYNN BARNARD, Ph.D. 

PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL OF PEDAGOGY 

AND 

JESSIE C. EVANS, A.M. 

WILLIAM PENN HIGH SCHOOL 


REVISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE 
PROVISIONS OF THE NEW CHARTER 



I 

I THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 

.if PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO 




Copyright, 1919, by 
The John C. Winston Co. 

Copyright, 1918 


'' • 

«• » 



1775 ^ 

NOV 20 1919 


©Cl. A 5^5781 
• VW I 


Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them; 
and as governments are made and moved hy men, so by them they 
are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men 
than men upon governments. . . . That, therefore, which makes 
good constitution must keep it, viz.: men of wisdom and virtue, 
qualities that because they descend not with worldly inheritances 
must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of youth. 

—Penn’s Frame of Government (1682). 



PREFACE 


There is visible everywhere in the United States an 
increasing interest in public welfare and in city govern¬ 
ment which has so much to do with securing it. The 
usual text-book in civics naturally gives fuller treatment 
of the national government, which is uniform for the 
whole country, than of state and city, which are every¬ 
where different. And even special texts in municipal 
government can give only a general survey of the field. 

Each city needs a book of its own. • • -.~ 

Moreover, the belief is growing that the formal teach¬ 
ing of the structure and legal powers of government 
has had its day in our schools. In its place is coming the 
instruction which concerns itself chiefly with the func¬ 
tions of government; with what is done, and why;, 
with the ways in which we all may help, individually 
and in organized groups. There is need, accordingly, 
for books which emphasize the elements of public welfare, r | 
As a part of this new order of things there is coming a 
realization of the simple but important truth that the 
primary object of civic teaching is, after all, to make 
good citizens. It has well been said that good citizen¬ 
ship—the sort that is good for something—means effi¬ 
cient service in the community, be that community the 
city, the state, or the nation. There is need for books 
which give the sort of practical information about com¬ 
munity activities that awakens live interest and stimulates 
to good citizenship. 

To try to satisfy these three needs has been the object 

( 7 ) 



8 


PREFACE 


of the authors of this book. It deals exclusively with 
Philadelphia, leaving to other texts the discussion of the 
state and federal governments; it dwells at length upon 
the collective activities ‘of the city; it aims to show in 
every case what are the further needs of the city and how 
good citizens may help to meet them. 

The book is the outcome of several years of teaching 
community civics in the Philadelphia schools. When 
the new course in civics was first inaugurated the teach¬ 
ers were at a loss for material on city affairs. About 
them Was the complex machinery of the city govern¬ 
ment, but there seemed to be no way to understand it 
except by personal research. There was little in print 
and that little was fragmentary and out of date. Grad¬ 
ually, as a result of the collection of reports and news¬ 
paper articles, of repeated visits to City Hall, and of 
trips of investigation about the city, much information 
has been collected. And now that all the elementary 
.schools are to undertake instruction in city affairs it 
seems worth while to put in print the results of this 
research, to help the hundreds of teachers who will be 
attacking the problem for the first time, 
r The attempt has been made to write about the work 
of the city departments in a way that can be understood 
by the young citizen. But it is believed that this will 
not detract from the value of the book as a source of 
information for the adult citizen. At the present time 
there exists no other comprehensive study of the govern¬ 
ment of Philadelphia to satisfy the increasing interest 
in city affairs. In this book will be found a large body 
of reliable information along varied lines of civic activity, 
so arranged as to be readily accessible to clergymen, 


PREFACE 


9 


social workers, civic clubs, and all citizens interested in 
the public welfare. 

Valuable aid in preparation has been secured from the 
Bureau of Municipal Research. The following mem¬ 
bers of the bureau have given of their time to writing 
special chapters, and they have also read and criticized 
some of the other chapters: Mr. Frederick P. Gruenberg, 
Dr. Neva R. Deardorff, Mr. William C. Beyer, Mr. 
Robert J. Patterson, Mr. Robert E. Tracy. Both in 
the writing of the book and in the collection of illustra¬ 
tive material most efficient help has been rendered by 
Miss Mary W. Stewart, Miss Anna C. Clauder, Miss 
Cleora Sutch, and Miss Mary E. Doheny of the Depart¬ 
ment of History and Civics of the William Penn High 
School. One chapter has been contributed by Mrs. 
J. Lynn Barnard, whose first-hand knowledge of the 
subject treated makes her contribution especially wel¬ 
come. The cordial and interested cooperation that has 
been extended by city officials and by executive secre¬ 
taries of private organizations engaged in public welfare 
work is also gratefully acknowledged. 

J. Lynn Barnard. 

Jessie C. Evans. 

Philadelphia, August 1, 1918. 

The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness 
to Mr. Will H. Johnston for his aid in making the revi¬ 
sions necessary because of the new city charter. 

October, 1919. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB PAGE 

1. Philadelphia— A Community . 17 

II. Health. 29 

III. The Water Supply. 51 

IV. Street Cleaning and Waste Disposal. 70 

V. Fire Fighting and Fire Prevention... 88 

VI. Police, Accidents, Weights and Meas¬ 
ures. 114 

VII. The Lighting of the City. 134 

VIII. The Public School System. 146 

IX. Recreation . 179 

X. City Planning . 199 

XI. Transportation . 228 

XII. Getting a Living in Philadelphia. 251 

XIII. Charities. 274 

XIV. The Courts and Law Officers. 289 

XV. How THE City Laws are Made . 309 

XVI. Meeting the Cost of Government. ... 323 

XVIL Civil Service. 340 

XVIII. Parties and Elections. 355 

Epitome of Revised Charter for 
Philadelphia. 369 


















• .' 7 ^. 


V 


% 


\ 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

City Hall Tower by Night. Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Village of Philadelphia. 18 

Market Street near second. 19 

The State House (Independence Hall) in 1778. 22 

Old Academy Buildings. 25 

Dirty Sediment in the Bottom of a Bottle of Milk. 31 

Insanitary Lodging House. 36 

Breeding Places for Mosquitoes. 37 

Insanitary Alley Conditions. 39 

Open-Air Treatment of Whooping Cough. 43 

Correcting Vision of School Children at the Eye Dispensary. . 44 

School Medical Inspection. 45 

Old Fairmount Water Works. 51 

Diagram Showing Death Rate from Typhoid from 1886 to 1916.. 53 

The Water System of Philadelphia. 55 

The Torresdale Filtration Plant. 57 

Washing the Sand at the Torresdale Filters. 59 

Growth of Philadelphia’s Population and Water Consumption. 62 

Underground Structures at Tenth and Walnut Street. 65 

Typical City Sewer Outlet. 66 

Diagram of the Pennypack Creek Sewage Disposal Plant. .. 67 

Trickling Filter in Operation. 68 

Motor-Driven Ash Cart . 71 

Sprinkler and Machine Sweepers. 78 

Squeegees at Work. 79 

High-Pressure Flusher. 80 

Three Generations of Fire-Fighting Apparatus. 89 

Latest Type of Fire Apparatus. 91 

A Water Tower in Action. 92 

High-Pressure Fire Apparatus. 95 

A Fire Boat. 96 

Firemen’s Band. 98 

Factory Fire Drill Supervised by Fire Marshal’s Inspectors 104 

Type of Fire Apparatus now Displaced. 107 

(xiii) 































XIV 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Fire in Winter. 112 

Police School. 115 

Emergency Treatment for Drowning Persons. 116 

Policemen Taking Gymnasium Exercises. 117 

Directing Traffic with the Semaphore. 119 

Safety First for School Children.. 120 

A Police Captain.'. 123 

Our Street Corner Friends. 125 

Policeman Rendering First Aid. 127 

Policeman Keeping Back a Crowd. 128 

Emergency Motor Cycle. 131 

Electric Lamp on Broad Street. 139 

Ornamental Lamp, City Hall Square. 143 

An Old School Building. 148 

A Modern Elementary School. 150 

Diagram of Heating System . lol 

A Modern High School. 153 

A Wood-Working Class. 157 

A Cooking Class. 159 

An Open-Air Class.. 160 

A School Garden. 164 

A Dental Clinic. 166 

A School Lunch Room. 167 

Auditorium of a Girls’ High School. 173 

A Dangerous Playground. 180 

A Resting Place in the Park. 181 

Playground in a School Yard. 183 

Apparatus in a Recreation Center. 184 

A Swimming Pool at a Recreation Center. 185 

A Swimming Lesson at a Recreation Center. 187 

A Wading Pool at a Recreation Center. 188 

Race Street Pier. 189 

The New Central Free Library. 190 

Fun at a Swimming Pool. 195 

Copy of Original Plan of Philadelphia. 200 

A Bird’s-Eye View from Lemon Hill, Fairmount Park. 204 

Vista on the Parkway looking Northwest. 207 

A Local Civic Center. 209 

A Neighborhood Breathing Place. 211 

Bridge of Newtown Branch over Third Street. 212 

Scene on the Northeast Boulevard. 213 











































LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


XV 


PAGE 

The Park System. 215 

A City Beauty Spot. 216 

How Land is Being Made. 217 

Wheel for Breaking up Mud. 218 

Plan for the Parkway and Traffic Circuit. 219 

Filling a Mud Scow. 220 

Trees or Wires—Which?. 222 

The Sky-Scraper District. 223 

Walnut Lane Bridge. 225 

Philadelphia Transit Plans. 233 

A Congested Railroad Yard. 240 

Boat of Commissioners of Navigation. 243 

Proposed Moyamensing Piers. 244 

Plan for the Relocation of Railroads in South Philadelphia .. 246 

Exterior of Municipal Pier. 247 

Interior of Municipal Pier. 248 

An Ice Boat. 249 

Ship at Municipal Pier.'. 250 

A View in a Mill District. 252 

Shipping Along Delaware Avenue. 253 

A Spinning Room in a Textile Mill. 255 

Machine Shop of a Ship-Building Plant. 258 

League Island Navy Yard. 261 

Interior of a Textile Mill. 271 

Woman’s Department, Spring Hill. 277 

Farm Work at Byberry. 279 '' 

Patients Caring for Cattle at Byberry. 281 

Feeding Chickens at Byberry.284 

The Children’s Auto Bus. 289 

Getting Cleaned Up. 290 

Preliminary Hearing. 292 

Children Waiting to be Examined. 293 

Preliminary Test. 294 

House of Detention. 295 

Senatorial Districts, Legislative Districts and Ward Divi¬ 
sions OF Philadelphia. 322 

A Practical Examination.349 






































CHAPTER I 


Philadelphia— A Community 

Two centuries ago Philadelphia was a small village 
on the edge of the Delaware, with only a few hundred 
inhabitants and with none of the big buildings or the 
paved streets or the parks and playgrounds or the libraries 
and museums that we see to-day. 

As this httle village grew larger and larger, the necessity 
for the people to work together to meet common wants 
became ever more pressing. This chapter tells how 
various efforts were made to satisfy these wants. No 
attempt is made to sketch even a brief history of Phila¬ 
delphia, but only to trace its early growth along a few 
lines in order to illustrate the way in which this particular 
community developed civically from a village into a city. 

One citizen will be discovered, the great Benjamin 
Franklin, who was so alive to civic needs, so clever in 
thinking out ways to meet them, and so enterprising in 
getting his ideas carried out, that he serves as the embodi¬ 
ment of civic spirit and civic achievement—as an ideal of 
the good citizen. As you read a brief story of his 
service to Philadelphia, you will understand why it is 
necessary for people to do things together as a com¬ 
munity. You will see, too, how important it is for all 
citizens to take an interest in public affairs, to pay their 
share willingly, and to do some things that may be per¬ 
sonally inconvenient in order that their community 
activities may be successful. Accordingly, his story 

117) 


2 



18 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


will be told in some detail. And this introductory chapter 
will end at that point, for its purpose will have been 
fulfilled if the boys and girls who read it shall have 
gotten some idea of community growth and of the kind 
of citizenship that alone makes such growth possible. 



THE VILLAGE OF PHILADELPHIA 

The little stream at the left of the picture was Dock Creek, the present site of Dock 
Street. The little pond on the outskirts of the town was known as the Duck Pond. The 
location is now Fourth and Alarket. The main street running west from the river was 
called High Street, now Market Street. At the extreme left of the picture is Old Swedes’ 
Church. 

The City of Penn.—In an interesting pamphlet pub¬ 
lished in 1685, Penn gives us a clear picture of his new 
city as it emerged from the “cave-dweller’’ epoch. He 
describes it as two miles long and a mile wide, with 
High Street (now Market) and Broad Street each a hun¬ 
dred feet in breadth, and with eight streets parallel to 
High Street and twenty cross-streets parallel to Broad 






MARKET STREET NEAR SECOND 
Showing Christ Church about 1740. 

of these names are still in use, though not always applied 
as in Penn’s time. 

Thomas Holme, surveyor general of the province, who 
had come over in 1681 to lay out the city and locate 
building lots, gives us some additional information about 
the original plan. ^Hn the centre of the city is a square 
[now Penn Square] of ten acres; at each angle are to be 
houses for public affairs, as a Meeting House, Assembly 


PHILADELPHIA—A COMMUNITY 19 

Stieet. And he adds that the names of these streets were 
^‘mostly taken from the things that spontaneously grow 
in the country, as Vine, Mulberry, Chestnut, Walnut, 
Strawberry, Cranberry, Plum, Hickory, Pine, Oake, 
Beach, Ash, Poplar, Sassafras, and the like.” Many 




























20 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


or State House, Market House, School House, and several 
other buildings for public concerns. There is also in 
each quarter of the city a square of eight acres to be 
for the like uses as the Moorfields in London.’^ And he 
further informs us that all the streets except High and 
Broad are fifty feet in width. 

The Schuylkill River did not become as important 
commercially as Penn had thought it would; the town 
grew but slowly toward the west, and so Center Square’’ 
(now Penn Square) was too far away for a location for 
the houses for public affairs.” A meeting-house was 
finally erected near the square, Watson tells us in his 
Annals of Philadelphia,” but ^Tt was so far out of 
town that it was not used and so fell into decay.” The 
founders of the city built their homes mostly on Front 
Street, facing the Delaware; and for the first quarter- 
century a resident west of Seventh Street might well 
feel himself a suburbanite—if not a commuter”! 

The earliest footways, we are told, were of brick and 
gravel, or gravel only, and the streets were invariably 
either muddy or dusty. The first paving of roadways was 
apparently of pebbles, which the inhabitants often 
voluntarily placed in front of their premises, from the 
kennel” (gutter) to the middle of the street. Not till 
the eighteenth century was half over was there united 
effort at paving, and then lotteries were made use of to 
pay for it. And throughout the century numerous 
“dirty places” were complained of by successive grand 
juries. 

Watson assures us that for a few years after the found¬ 
ing of the city no public precautions were taken against 
fire. And the first act of the legislature with this in view 



PHILADELPHIA—A COMMUNITY 


21 


strikes one as picturesque rather than effectual. House¬ 
holders were not to clean their chimneys by firing them, 
nor allow them to take fire, under penalty of forty shillings; 
each householder was to keep at hand a swab twelve to 
fourteen feet long, and a bucket or pail, under penalty 
of sixteen shillings; and, finally, no one was to smoke 
tobacco in the streets, night or day, under penalty of one 
shilling. The fines collected were to buy leather buckets, 
ladders, and engines. 

In John Russell Young’s ^'Memorial History of Phila¬ 
delphia,” Vol. I, we read that education was begun in 
Philadelphia by the Council of the Colony on December 
26, 1683. And the following quaint extract is given 
from the minutes of that date. ^^The Govr and Provll 
Council having taken into their Serious Consideration 
the great Necessity there is of a School Master for ye 
Instruction & Sober Education of Youth in the towne 
of Philadelphia, Sent for Enoch flower, an Inhabitant of 
the said Towne, who for twenty year past hath exercised 
in that care and Imployment in England to whom haveing 
Communicated their Minds, he Embraced it upon these 
following termes: to learne to read English 4s by the 
Quarter, to Learne to read and write 6s by ye Quarter, 
to learne to read. Write, and Cast accot 8s by Quarter; 
for Boarding a Scholler, that is to say, dyet. Washing, 
Lodging, & Scooling, Tenn pounds for one whole year.” 
How could education have had a more delightful start in 
the City of Penn? 

For the next half-century Philadelphia grew rapidly, 
and with this rapid growth in population there was 
increasing need for the town itself to look after all sorts 
of civic interests that could no longer be properly attended 


22 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to by private citizens. Unfortunately, the town govern¬ 
ment proved unequal to the task. The legislative body, 
known as the “Common Council,” was unbusinesslike, 
and there was no efficient administrative department. 
Precious time was wasted, and such public works as were 



THE STATE HOUSE (INDEPENDENCE HALL) IN 1778 
From a drawing of that date by C. W. Peale. 


found necessary were built extravagantly. Streets, 
police and fire protection, taxation, all alike suffered 
from lack of leadership and business ability. 

Fortunate it was for Philadelphia that at the close of 
this period the city should have found itself possessed of 
a citizen of rare civic insight, who was beginning to see 
the need for collective action and who knew how to go 
about securing it. The story of this man^s remarkable 




PHILADELPHIA—A COMMUNITY 


23 


civic activities will perhaps best illustrate how Phila¬ 
delphia came to realize itself as a ^‘Communityand to 
appreciate what it meant to be a “citizen. ’ 

Franklin, the Civic Statesman.—Philadelphia is to-day 
a proud city of a million and three-quarters of inhabitants 
and an area of 1293/2 square miles. It is hard for us to 
realize that in the days when the great Benjamin Franklin 

walked its streets it wsis little more than a countrv 

%/ 

village, where the government was weak and inefficient, 
and where each householder looked after his own interests 
and had not learned to cooperate with his neighbors for 
the common good. In fact, had it not been for their 
remarkable fellow-townsman, the citizens would have 
learned the community lesson later than they did. In. 
his Autobiography, which every school boy and girl 
ought to read, Franklin pictures the growth of public 
spirit in Philadelphia, and shows how one function after 
another came to be regarded as a matter of common con¬ 
cern in which all should cooperate. Suppose we let him 
tell us the story so far as possible in his own delightful 
fashion. 

“And now [about 1730] I set on foot my first project of 
a public nature, that for a subscription library. I drew 
up the proposals, got them put into form, procured 
fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin with, 
and ten shillings a year for fifty years, the term our 
company was to continue. We afterwards obtained a 
charter, the company being increased to one hundred;' 
this was the mother of all the North American sub¬ 
scription libraries, now so numerous.” Thus was 
founded the present Philadelphia Library, now at Locust 
and Juniper Streets, with its 400,000 volumes, which. 


24 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


while not a part of the free library system of the city, is 
a valuable adjunct to it. 

And now a new want manifested itself to Franklin; 
the town had no adequate police force and no fire depart¬ 
ment. Hear his quaint description of the situation. 
^^The city watch was one of the first things perceived to 
want regulation. It was managed by the constables 
of the respective wards in turn; the constable warned a 
number of housekeepers to attend him for the night. 
Those who chose never to attend, paid him six shillings 
a year to be excused, which was supposed to be for 
hiring substitutes, but was, in reality, much more than 
was necessary for that purpose, and made the constable- 
ship a place of profit; and the constable, for a little drink, 
often got such ragmuffins about him as a watch, that 
respectable housekeepers did not chose to mix with. 
Walking the rounds, too, was often neglected, and most 
of the nights spent in tippling. ... I proposed as a 
more effectual watch the hiring of proper men to serve 
constantly in that business; and as a more equitable 
way of supporting the charge, the levying of a tax that 
should be proportioned to the property. This proposal 
paved the way for the law obtained a few years after. 
Such was the simple beginning of a police department. 

Franklin next discussed publicly the question of fires 
and the need of their prevention; and soon afterwards, 
in 1736, he organized the Union Tire Company, which 
lasted for over fifty years. ^‘Our articles of agreement, 
he tells us, obliged every member to keep always in 
good order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather 
buckets, with strong bags and baskets for packing and 
transporting of goods, which were to be brought to every 


PHILADELPHIA—A COMMUNITY 


25 


fire; and we agreed to meet once a month and spend a 
social evening together, in discoursing and communicating 
such ideas as occurred to us upon the subject of fires, 
as might be useful in our conduct on such occasions.’' 
The small fines paid by members absent from these 



OLD ACADEMY BUILDINGS 

The old academy buildings in Fourth Street, as originally constructed in 1744. This 
academy was the foundation from which grew the University of Pennsylvania. 

monthly meetings were used for the purchase of fire¬ 
fighting apparatus, so that Franklin came to doubt 
whether there was a city in the world better equipped than 
Philadelphia. Thus began the system of volunteer fire 
companies, to be succeeded in time by a paid fire depart¬ 
ment splendidly equipped and disciplined. 

It is not strange that Franklin should have turned his 
thoughts toward the education of youth, and have become 











26 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the founder of an academy in 1749, a combination of pay 
and free school under private control. This academy 
was later developed into the University of Pennsylvania; 
and Franklin notes with pride, in later life, that he had 
been continued one of its trustees for forty years. 

Library, police and fire departments. University— 
what a list of public enterprises for one man to help 
originate! But still his civic spirit and keen discern¬ 
ment of civic needs spurred him on to further accom¬ 
plishment. A close friend of his, a physician, had tried 
in vain to start a hospital for “poor sick persons, whether 
inhabitants of the province or strangers.’’ But not 
until the influential Franklin lent the project his aid was 
the hospital financed and incorporated. 

Soon after this he determined to see what could be 
done about the streets in the way of paving, cleaning, 
and lighting. Franklin complains in his Autobiography 
that “in wet weather the wheels of heavy carriages 
plough’d them [the streets] into a quagmire, so that it 
was difficult to cross them; and in dry weather the dust 
was offensive.” And he goes on to tell us: “I had liv’d 
near what was called the Jersey Market, and saw with 
pain the inhabitants wading in mud while purchasing 
their provisions. A strip of ground down the middle of 
that market was at length pav’d with brick, so that, 
being once in the market, they had firm footing, but were 
often over shoes in dirt to get there. By talking and 
writing on the subject, I was at length instrumental in 
getting the street pav’d with stone between the market 
and the brick’d foot-pavement, that was on each side 
next the houses. This, for some time, gave an easy 
access to the market dry-shod; but, the rest of the street 


PHILADELPHIA—A COMMUNITY 


27 


not being pav’d, whenever a carriage came out of the 
mud upon this pavement, it shook off and left its dirt 
upon it, and it was soon cover’d with mire, which was 
not remov’d, the city as yet having no scavengers.” 
This is what Franklin did about it. 

“After some inquiry, I found a poor, industrious man, 
who was willing to undertake keeping the pavement 
clean, by sweeping it twice a week, carrying off the dirt 
from before all the neighbors’ doors, for the sum of six¬ 
pence per month, to be paid by each house.” Thereupon 
Franklin wrote and printed a paper setting forth the 
advantages that would accrue to householder and store¬ 
keeper alike from keeping the streets clean, and followed 
this up with a successful house-to-house canvass. “All 
the inhabitants of the city were delighted with the 
cleanliness of the pavement that surrounded the market, 
it being a convenience to all, and this raised a general 
desire to have all the streets pav’d, and made the people 
more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose.” 

Later Franklin drew up a bill for paving the city, and 
introduced it in the Assembly. This was passed, “with 
an additional provision for lighting as well as paving the 
streets, which was a great improvement.” 'To another 
citizen of Philadelphia Franklin gives credit for the 
lighting idea, reserving for himself only the credit of 
substituting ventilated four-sided lamps that would not 
smoke for the London type of globe lamp that would not 
do much of anything else. These new lamps “con¬ 
tinued bright till morning, and an accidental stroke 
would generally break but a single pane, easily repaired.” 

While in England Franklin suggested to a friend of his 
a simple method of sweeping the London streets, and one 


28 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


phase of that plan will bear repetition for Philadelphia’s 
benefit now. It was simply this, that the streets should 
be swept before the shops and windows of houses are 
usually opened, when the scavengers, with close-covered 
carts, shall also carry it all away.” If alive to-day, 
Franklin would be insisting on the use of vacuum cleaners 
and air-tight carts, or else underground chutes into which 
all debris should be driven and by which it would be 
carried to the dumping grounds. 

Oh, for a Franklin as Efficiency Engineer in each city 
of this land of ours! Safety, health, education, com¬ 
munication, public works—all the functions of a modern 
municipality were foreseen and foreshadowed by this 
one man. Always a generation or more in advance of 
his times, this many-sided citizen embodied in his own 
life the growth of Philadelphia as it took on one civic 
function after another, until it emerged as the largest 
and finest city in the American colonies. 


CHAPTER II 


Health 

Cities Create Health Problems.—So long as people 
lived out on farms, each family looked after the health of 
its own members and the community did not have to 
take a very active part. It was largely concerned in 
seeing that the quarantine was maintained against 
plague diseases like leprosy, smallpox, and cholera. But 
as soon as families begin to live in cities and towns, health 
matters become many-sided community problems. Con¬ 
tagious diseases are easily transmitted, a polluted water 
supply sickens not only one family but hundreds; flies, 
rats, and vermin carry diseases from house to house and 
from tenement to tenement; filth of all kinds accumulates 
rapidly; even the very air sometimes becomes offensive 
and laden with disease. Under date of September 
23, 1800, Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Doctor Benjamin 
Rush of Philadelphia said, ^‘1 view great cities as pesti¬ 
lential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man.^^ 
Many of these conditions are such that the individual 
citizen or the single family cannot possibly change them. 
If the bad conditions are to be improved, it must be by 
the action of the whole community. 

Efforts to Secure Wholesome Food. —Everyone recog¬ 
nizes that good, clean, wholesome food is essential to 
health, but not everyone sees that city conditions often 
make it very hard to obtain, particularly for people of 
small income. The family on the farm very largely pro- 

( 29 ) 


30 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


duced its own food. It kept cows and therefore produced 
its own milk, cream, butter, and cheese. It raised its 
own vegetables, fruits, and cereals. It got eggs and 
meat supply from its poultry, cattle, sheep, and hogs. 
Ail of its foods were fresh or were preserved in ways that 
did not harm the product. But the people who live in 
large cities cannot thus know about the source of their 
food supply. They do not know where the milk comes 
from that they use, or the butter, or the eggs, or the 
vegetables, or the meats. Very likely they come from 
all parts of the United States. In some cases milk is 
produced as far as a thousand miles from the city where 
it is used. The demand in the cities is so great and the 
price so high that it becomes a business to go out over 
the country collecting foods and bring them to the city 
for sale. This is usually called the commission” 
business. 

Now one can readily see that in all these processes of 
shipping, handling, and selling two or three or more 
times, there are many opportunities for contamination of 
certain foods, for disposing of unhealthful products, for 
adulteration, and for various other kinds of dangers to 
creep in. Many of these dangers cannot be detected 
from the appearance of the food at the time it reaches the 
consumer. 

People in Philadelphia first realized these dangers in 
connection with milk. Because it is used as food for 
babies, and therefore should never be adulterated, and 
because it is peculiarly liable to carry certain very serious 
diseases, the community has felt keenly its duty to see 
that the supply is as pure and wholesome as is possible. 

In 1914 Philadelphia required that the general milk 


HEALTH 


31 


supply of the city should be pasteurized, that is, heated 
to a liigh temperature. This is considered a very 
important advance step because, if properly done, it 
insures that the milk for a certain period afterwards will 
be free from disease. Inspectors obtain samples of milk 
from stores and restaurants, from railroad and trolley 
pl.atforms, from wagons and bottling plants. These are 
tested at City Hall for 
bacteria. Bacteria are 
minute forms of vegetable 
life. Many kinds of bac¬ 
teria cause disease. Other 
inspectors spend their en¬ 
tire time at the pasteur¬ 
izing plants, noting the 
sanitary conditions of the 
places and whether or not 
the pasteurizing process 
is being properly carried 
out. Still other inspec¬ 
tors go about the city in¬ 
specting milk in the places where it is sold. They see 
that it is being kept at the proper temperature and that 
it has not been adulterated. They also inspect the stores 
themselves to see that they are clean. The power of these 
inspectors is backed by a state law requiring the licensing 
of all milk dealers and setting a standard for the quality 
of milk to be sold. If a dealer does not comply with the 
rules he is no longer permitted to carry on the milk 
business in this state. 

Besides milk, the city also inspects meats to see that 
they carry no disease to consumers. To do this inspec- 



(Courtesy of the Bureau of Health) 

DIRTY SEDIMENT IN THE BOTTOM 
OF A BOTTLE OF MILK 


32 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


tions are made of the live animals ready for slaughter: 
certain rules are prescribed about the slaughtering process 
and the selling of meats, poultry, and fish; and inspectors 
see that these rules are observed. For this work the 
city employs a veterinarian and seven assistants. Four 
of the assistants inspect animals before and after they 
have been slaughtered. They have sixty-nine slaughter 
houses under their care. One inspector is stationed at 
the wholesale meat houses, another at the wholesale 
fish market, and the seventh has charge of the preparing 
plants and the chicken slaughter houses. It can readily 
be seen that more inspectors are needed to do all this 
work thoroughly. Now, almost all the hogs, sheep, and 
goats are killed without inspection. One of the proposed 
solutions of this problem is to have a municipal slaughter 
house which would take the place of the sixty-nine 
privately owned abattoirs. Inspection would be com¬ 
paratively easy at such a place. 

A state law now requires a medical examination twice 
a year of people who handle food in hotels, dining cars, 
restaurants, and other public eating places, and also 
provides that “no dishes, receptacles, or utensils used in 
eating or drinking shall be furnished to patrons or cus¬ 
tomers of any such public eating place unless the same 
have been thoroughly cleansed since used by another 
individual.” As yet the city has no employees detailed 
to see that this law is carefully enforced. 

In June, 1916, the lawmaking body, then composed of 
Select and Common Councils, passed an ordinance which 
prohibited certain practices in the selling of various 
other kinds of foods but did not provide any officers to see 
to its enforcement. Its principal aim was to prevent the 


HEALTH 


33 


exposure of foods to street dirt, flies, and other sources 
of contamination during the summer months. 

The state and the national governments also have 
officers whose duty it is to see that national and state 
laws regarding the condition, handling, and labeling of 
foods offered for sale are enforced. The Pennsylvania 
Dairy and Food Commission has agents who inspect 
eggs, milk and cream, ice cream, cheese, butter, oleomar¬ 
garine, lard, meat, sausage, fruits, vegetables, spices, 
non-alcoholic drinks, vinegar, and fruit syrup to see that 
the Pure Food, Cold Storage, and other laws are enforced 
throughout the state. The full time of one inspector 
and half the time of another is devoted to inspection in 
Philadelphia. When it is found that the laws have been 
disobeyed, the food is stamped, ^^Not to be sold in Penn¬ 
sylvania.” The State Livestock Sanitary Board quaran¬ 
tines contagious diseases among livestock and inspects 
herds at dairies outside which send milk into the city. 

The United States Bureau of Chemistry keeps two 
inspectors in Philadelphia to watch for violations of the 
Food and Drugs act, and the United States Bureau of 
Animal Industry has about sixty inspectors on duty here 
in the packing houses, slaughter houses, and butcher 
shops which sell fat for lard, oleo, etc. There are twelve 
abattoirs and forty-seven preparing plants under federal 
inspection. All of these federal officers can interfere 
only in businesses which are doing an interstate trade. 

Water. —Elsewhere will be found a description of the 
water works of Philadelphia considered as a business 
undertaking. It must not be forgotten that the water 
supply has a very great deal to do with health. Typhoid 
fever, a disease that formerly caused the death of hun- 


34 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


dreds of persons each year and made ill many hundreds 
of others, was spread largely by the drinking water which 
was polluted with typhoid germs. Now that our water 
supply is filtered and treated with chlorine, typhoid has 
almost disappeared from the city. 

Water is also important to health in other ways. 
There should always be an abundance for purposes of 
cleanliness, which is essential to health, and it should be 
clear and cool and appetizing. All doctors tell us that we 
should drink much more water than the average person 
now drinks. The supply, therefore, should be such as 
would not make it difficult or disagreeable to follow this 
advice. 

Fresh Air and Light.—People are very much like sun- 
loving plants. To be healthy they should have plenty 
of fresh air and sunlight. These are free gifts of nature 
and it would seem that they should be free to all. But 
such is not the case when people live in congested groups 
in cities. The land is cut up into very small pieces and 
owned by many different persons. One man builds a 
house that very nearly covers all the land he owns. As 
long as the lots around him remain vacant his house is 
supplied with air and light, but when all his neighbors 
do the same as he has done the result is a group of dark, 
ill-ventilated, unhealthful houses or flats. In a great 
majority of cases these are rented to people who cannot 
afford to pay very much rent. There are no yards nor 
porches where children can play, and the houses are over¬ 
crowded. This is apt to result in much sickness and 
many deaths. Until comparatively recently such houses 
have been cheaply built, without proper plumbing, with¬ 
out fire-escapes, and in many other ways unfit for decent 


HEALTH 


35 


and safe living. On account of the overcrowding and the 
cheap construction^ the landlord has been able to charge 
low rents and at the same time make a very large profit. 

It is now an accepted principle in law that it is the 
duty of the state and the city to prevent anything which 
threatens to harm the health or morals of the people. 
This is known as the police power of government. Under 
this power rules called the Building Code have been 
made which prescribe what may and may not be done in 
the building of houses. 

Two bureaus in the city government are charged with 
the enforcement of this code. The Bureau of Building 
Inspection in the Department of Public Safety issues 
building permits after it has inspected the plans of a 
proposed building or alteration. It has also inspectors 
who report whether or not the requirements of the law 
have been observed when the building was actually put up. 
It is especially concerned to see that the laws to prevent 
accidents have been and are being enforced. The 
Division of Housing and Sanitation in the Department 
of Health, on the other hand, inspects plans and buildings 
to see that the health laws have been observed. Its 
supervision covers the use, occupancy, sanitation, and 
maintenance of all buildings, grounds, and vacant lands 
within the city limits. Damp cellars and walls, leaky 
roofs, dark and ill-ventilated rooms, overcrowding, out- 
of-door toilets, lack of water connections, dark and 
narrow stairs, and dirty houses and yards are particular 
points in housing with which this division concerns itself. 

In> the Division of Housing and Sanitation there are at 
present about thirty-five inspectors on general housing 
and sanitation, and eight who devote their entire time to 


36 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


tenement and rooming houses which come under special 
provisions of the housing law. When a complaint that 
the law is being violated is received, an inspector in 
uniform and wearing a badge goes to the place and 
makes an inspection. If the law has been violated he 



(Courtesy of the Bureau of Heal(h) 


INSANITARY LODGING HOUSE 
Condemned by the Bureau of Health, v 

gives a written order to the owner or agent to make the 
necessary repairs and alterations. After a sufficient time 
has been allowed he makes a second inspection. If 
conditions are not remedied after due warning the owner 
is prosecuted and fined. If he then persists he can be 
taken into court again and again, until it becomes cheaper 
for him to repair his house than to pay the fines. 




HEALTH 


37 


The Chief of the Division of Housing and Sanitation 
has the power to declare any house unfit for human 
habitation” when he thinks that it violates any housing 
law or ordinance. "WTien he does this he posts a notice 
on the door, and orders the tenant to vacate the premises. 
He may give the tenant from two days to one month in 
which to find another 
remains both he and the 
owner can be prose¬ 
cuted. As the housing 
laws now stand the city 
officials are the only ones 
who have any authority 
to e'nforce them. 

Neither state nor 
national government can 
interfere in any way. 

Citizens can help very 
greatly in the enforce¬ 
ment of the housing laws 
if they will see, before 
they rent a house, that 
it is properly constructed and in good condition. 
They should see that there are outside windows in 
every room and that there is sunlight in the bathroom, 
that there is a toilet and bath in good repair, that the 
cellar is cemented, dry, light, and has good stairs, that 
the roof is in good condition, that the stairways will 
allow an easy exit in case of fire, and that the premises 
are cleaned up thoroughly before they move in. 

Unhealthful conditions may also be caused by other 
things than the building itself; for instance, by an 


place to live. If the tenant 



(Courtesy o • the Bureau, of Hea th) 


BREEDING PLACES FOR MOSQUITOES 

Barrels and tins that collect water are fertile 
breeding places of mosquitoes. 









38 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


offensive stable, a piggery, or a mosquito-breeding pond. 
A general name has been applied to such conditions, they 
are called nuisances.’^ This word as defined in the law 
will cover anything which in the opinion of the Board of 
Health ^^may have a tendency ... to endanger the 
health of the citizens.’^ It applies to all sorts of things— 
from leaving a dead cat in the alley to having an evil¬ 
smelling bone-boiling plant. The Division of Housing 
and Sanitation may order any such condition changed 
and the cause of the trouble removed. If the owner 
refuses to remedy the bad condition the division has the 
power to go ahead and make w^hatever changes are 
necessary and compel the owner to pay for them. 

One of the worst nuisances to which people can be 
subjected is the smoke nuisance, which can ruin a whole 
neighborhood. It makes the air offensive to breathe and 
creates certain health dangers. Houses and buildings are 
made dingy; plants and trees die; and the entire neigh¬ 
borhood becomes drab and ugly. Much is now being 
done to do away with smoke. Railroads are using electric 
power to get their trains in and out of the city, and 
various kinds of mechanical devices and fuels are being 
developed to get rid of this nuisance. In Philadelphia 
the Bureau of Boiler Inspection in the Department of 
Public Safety is in charge of enforcing the laws on smoke 
abatement. 

Removal of Filth and Ashes. —In connection with this 
question of nuisances the problem of keeping the city clean 
looms very large. Rubbish, garbage, ashes, and street 
dirt accumulate very fast, and all of these things can 
help to spread disease by means of flies and dust. We can¬ 
not discuss the details of the problem here. We merely 



HEALTH 


39 



wish to emphasize that keeping our city clean is not 
only a question of appearances but also one of health, and 
that if this work is not well done the health of the citi¬ 
zen is endangered. 

Sewage Disposal.—A problem of sanitation that is be¬ 
coming increasingly important is the disposal of sewage. 
Formerly it was custom¬ 
ary to have sewers drain 
into the nearest large 
body of water, whether 
it were a river, a lake, 
or the ocean. Sometimes 
the water supply was 
taken from the same 
river or lake. When this 
practice was followed by 
large cities it caused a 
great amount of sickness 
and large numbers of 
deaths, because certain 
diseases are easily trans¬ 
mitted by water. Now 

very careful attention is being paid to disposing of sewage 
so that it will not thus endanger health. By some of the 
most up-to-date methods the fluid portions are drained off 
and are rendered harmless by chemucal or other treat¬ 
ment, and the solid portions are manufactured into a 
valuable form of inoffensive fertilizer. 

Quiet Necessary to Health.—It is becoming more and 
more recognized that with the hard work people now do 
they must have complete relaxation and plenty of sound 
sleep. Health authorities are coming to see that it is 


{Courtesy of the Bu eau of Health). 
INSANITARY ALLEY CONDITIONS 




40 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


their duty to prevent unnecessary noise and to see that 
people are not needlessly kept awake. There is a real 
public health question back of those amusing cases that 
one reads of occasionally in the newspaper, where one 
citizen tries to prevent another from keeping a noisy 
rooster or an annoying parrot. 

Parks and Playgrounds.—There are many reasons why 
we should have parks, playgrounds, and open spaces in 
our city, but none is more important than the health 
reason. Both children and adults need to be out in the 
fresh clean air just as much as work, school, and other 
duties will permit. Since it has become impossible for 
^every family in the city to have its own porch and yard, 
many communities now provide one large yard and 
playground for the common use of the neighborhood. 
As parks and playgrounds are to be discussed elsewhere, 
in other connections, it is sufficient to say here that 
outdoor recreation is another of those things which make 
people happier and healthier and should be encouraged. 

Contagious Diseases.—We all know that certain 
diseases are catching” and that they are caught” in 
various ways. These diseases are, of course, preventable, 
and it seems a great pity that we have not yet been able 
to stamp them out entirely, since they cause so much need¬ 
less expense and suffering. - i 

i Medical science has been able to discover the exact 
ways in which most of these diseases are transmitted from 
one person to others, and on the basis of this knowledge 
laws have been passed which prevent those who have these 
diseases from carelessly spreading them. The enforce¬ 
ment of these laws is one of the most important duties of 
the Department of Public Health in Philadelphia. There 


HEALTH 


41 


are employed for this purpose a chief medical inspector 
and fifty-one assistant physicians, besides a number of 
other persons who do disinfecting, clerical work, give 
consultation, etc. In spite of these laws and officers, in 
a recent year over 32,000 cases of communicable diseases 
were reported to the Health Department. It is estimated 
that this is only one-third of the actual number of cases, 
because many of the less serious ones did not receive 
medical attention. 

Every physician who is called to attend a patient having 
a contagious disease is required to report it at once to the 
Department of Public Health. An inspector is sent 
immediately to the house in order to see that proper care 
is being taken to prevent the spread of the disease to 
other members of the family or to outsiders. To accom¬ 
plish the latter a warning sign is placed on the front door, 
the yellow sign indicating the more serious diseases, as 
smallpox, scarlet fever, or diphtheria, while the white 
sign indicates the minor communicable diseases, such as 
measles, chicken-pox, mumps, etc. When the doctor^s 
services are no longer required he again notifies the 
Department of Public Health, and upon receipt of this 
notice the inspector returns, makes sure that the danger 
of infection is over, and removes the sign. 

Various methods are used to control and prevent the 
different diseases. Vaccination is the most valuable 
method of prevention. Philadelphia is a port city, and 
ships are constantly coming here from all parts of the 
world. Many cases of the dreaded smallpox have 
thus been brought to our city. When a case breaks out 
it is usual to vaccinate all persons who have been exposed. 
As many as a thousand people in a small neighborhood 


42 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


have thus been vaccinated within twelve hours. The 
extent of these preventable diseases is a very good indica¬ 
tion of the quality of the health work which a city does. 

Contagious diseases concern not only local govern¬ 
ments, but state and national as well. Because of the 
ease of travel and communication epidemics spread 
rapidly from place to place if proper measures are not 
taken to stamp them out when, they appear. Therefore 
the state government has power to step in and administer 
the law where such action seems to be necessary. Every 
cause of contagious disease is reported to the state 
government, and each week a report of the number of 
cases and of deaths from each disease goes to the public 
health service of the national government. When an 
epidemic is present in one state, the neighboring states 
sometimes establish a quarantine and refuse to allow 
people from the infected state to come within their 
borders. 

The national government sees to it that contagious 
diseases shall not be imported from foreign countries. 
At each port there is a station with a medical corps which 
examines every person on every ship which arrives. 
Persons who carry diseases are detained until they no 
longer menace others, or are sent back to the countries 
from which they came. 

We can readily understand that if the city authorities 
are to see to it that the community is protected as far 
as is possible from these diseases, they must be able to 
tell accurately whether sick people actually have them 
or not. One of the special means that it has for this 
purpose is the bacteriological laboratory. Here examina¬ 
tions are made and reports are sent to the medical 


HEALTH 


43 


inspectors, who are thus assisted in making diagnoses. 
This kind of service is also furnished free to all the 
physicians of the city. When epidemics break out care¬ 
ful studies are made to locate the source and thus prevent 
this source from causing more sickness.. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Health) 
OPEN-AIR TREATMENT OF WHOOPING COUGH 
Scene at the Philadelphia Hospital for Contagious Diseases. 

Besides the laboratory, the city also has at Second 
and Luzerne Streets a special hospital for the treatment 
of contagious diseases known as the Municipal Hospital 
for Contagious Diseases. People used to be very much 
afraid of contagious disease hospitals, particularly those 
for the care of smallpox patients, which were usually 
called ^^pest-houses.” But now that fear is disappear¬ 
ing; and as the hospitals are giving better and better 







44 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

care, people are coming to see that they and their families 
are far better protected by hospital treatment than when 
such diseases are cared for at home. 

Sickness and Hospitals. —In Philadelphia there are 
many private and semi-public hospitals. It is the 
custom for the Pennsylvania Legislature to appropriate 


(Courtesy of the Bureau of Health') 
CORRECTING VISION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN AT THE EYE DISPENSARY 

sums of money of varying sizes to some of the private 
hospitals throughout the state. In return for these 
public funds the hospitals are expected to give a certain 
amount of free service to the poor. In addition to these 
state-aided hospitals, and the Contagious Disease Hospi¬ 
tal, the city has at Thirty-fourth and Pine Streets the 
large Philadelphia General Hospital with 2,000 beds. 
The work of this hospital is discussed in the chapter on 
charities. 

Correction of Defects. —We have spoken about correct- 







HEALTH 


45 


ing physical defects which appear in human beings. It 
is possible that if we knew how to take perfect care of 
ourselves many defects which now appear could be 
avoided. We know that care of the teeth prevents decay, 



(.Courtesy of the Bureau of HecUth,') 


SCHOOL MEDICAL INSPECTION 

Every school child receives a thorough physical examination. All defects are noted 
and parents are requested to have them corrected. 


and that care of eyes prevents many eye disorders. But 
there remain many defects, the causes of which are not 
known but for which remedies have been found. Adenoids 
in the throat, enlarged tonsils, polypus in the nose, and 
numerous other growths are of such a nature. These 
defects often lead to serious diseases, which in turn may 







46 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


cause death or permanent disability. It is therefore wise 
to have these defects corrected promptly. 

To correct these defects the city provides medical 
inspection of its school children. The physicians 
employed by the city examine each child, and report to 
the parents any need of medical attention. A regular 
corps of school medical inspectors performs this service 
for the public schools, while the medical inspectors in 
charge of contagious diseases look after the parochial 
and private schools. To the children who cannot afford 
the private dentist or oculist the city furnishes free dental 
and eye treatment. Several thousand pairs of spectacles 
are furnished free each year to children whose parents 
are unable to pay for them. Medical inspection of 
school children is also of great importance in detecting 
contagious diseases and preventing the exposure of the 
pupils to them. 

Health Education; Child Hygiene.—People who were 
watching the health conditions of the city very care¬ 
fully some years ago noticed that a large number of the 
deaths reported were of small children—babies under 
one year of age. From 150 to 200 babies out of every 
1,000 born, died during their first year of life. This, it 
was felt, was a condition that could and should be changed. 
So a campaign was started to ^^save babies.” It was 
known that many babies died because they were fed milk 
which contained germs of certain diseases. Accordingly, 
educational campaigns such as the Milk Show and the 
various baby-saving exhibits were held, and a large 
number of mmthers were taught how to prepare and take 
care of the baby’s milk in order to keep it as free as 
possible from disease germs. In cases of the illness of 


I 


HEALTH 


47 


babies in certain districts the city gave ice and pure milk 
to the mothers. As was mentioned above, in 1914 
the milk supply was required to be pasteurized. 

It had also been observed 4;hat many mothers did not 
know how to take care of the baby’s health in other ways. 
So the city decided, after some experiments, to teach 
mothers what they should know. In 1910 a chief nurse 
and eight assistants were employed. Since about 40,000 
babies are born in the city each year, it was evident that 
such a small number of nurses could not instruct all of 
the mothers. Therefore their work had to be confined 
to a few wards, and in these they worked diligently. 
They visited the homes and taught the mothers how 
to keep their babies well. In 1915 the number of nurses 
was increased, until now the city has a much larger 
number, though there are not yet enough to cover the 
entire city. When the authorities receive the report of 
a birth from a section which has a nurse, the nurse goes 
to the house whether there is any reason to believe she is 
especially needed or not. If everything seems all right 
she makes no more visits; if she is needed she does what¬ 
ever is necessary to instruct and help the mother. Already 
the number of babies that die is rapidly decreasing. It 
is hoped that before very long every baby in the city 
will receive the kindly attention by which the com¬ 
munity seeks to start the little life out on its journey 
with a fund of good health. 

Besides this education of mothers in the care of babies, 
the Health Department is trying to teach all citizens 
how to take care of themselves and to keep from being 
sick. At intervals the Director of Public Health sends 
to the newspapers a short article on some timely topic. 


48 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Citizens should heed these warnings and help to improve 
the general health of the community. 

Lately public health departments have seen that one 
of the big enemies to public health is the use of alcohol. 
It causes sickness, misery, and poverty, both to those 
who use it directly and to those who are dependent upon 
them. Many states have put alcohol in the class of poisons 
and habit-forming drugs and prohibited the manufacture 
and sale of them within the state. In 1917 Congress 
passed an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. This was 
approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 
states, and on January 29, 1919, was proclaimed a valid 
part of the Constitution of the United States, to take 
effect in January, 1920. As a war measure prohibition 
was enforced July 1, 1919, to continue till the complete 
demobilization of the army. 

Vital Statistics.—In 1904 a new law was passed which 
required that all births and deaths in the State of Penn¬ 
sylvania be registered. It is now the duty of the attend¬ 
ing physician to make out and file the birth certificate. 
In the case of deaths the physician fills out the death cer¬ 
tificate, which he gives to the undertaker. Before the 
body can be buried or shipped out of the county the 
undertaker must take the death certificate to City Hall 
and get, in return, a burial or shipping permit. It is the 
duty of the Division of Vital Statistics of the Department 
of Public Health to count these documents and the 
facts recorded on them. In this way we can find out 
how many people have died in a week or a month or 
a year, what diseases caused their deaths, the age at 
which they died, and many other facts. Certain facts 


HEALTH 


49 


about the births are also tabulated, as we call this 
counting process. 

The United States Government has taken the leader¬ 
ship in seeing that the system of reporting and tabulating 
shall be uniform and that the resulting statistics shall, 
therefore, be comparable. In this way we can know 
just exactly how much healthier or unhealthier our city 
is than other cities, how the wards compare with one 
another, how babies of Italian mothers survive in com¬ 
parison with those of American, or Negro, or Russian 
mothers. Such facts as these are among the most useful 
tools that the official who is charged with improving 
health conditions can have. Indeed, without them he 
can neither know what is needed nor what he has accom¬ 
plished. The United States Government also tabulates 
and publishes statistics on population every ten years, 
and recently began to get out statistics each year upon 
births and deaths in our country. 

Department of Public Health. —Formerly the care of 
the public health and the care of public charities were 
combined in one department called the Department of 
Public Health and Charities. This was abolished by the 
new Philadelphia Charter of 1919, and two departments 
took its place. Charities were placed under a newly 
created Department of Public Welfare, which is discussed 
in the chapter on Charities;’’ and the former Bureau of 
Health was raised to the status of a department. The 
Department of Public Health has the care, management, 
administration and supervision of city activities relating 
to public health, including hospitals, control of housing 
and collection of vital statistics. It is in charge of a 
Director, appointed by the Mayor. 



50 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The Board of Health consists of the Director of Public 
Health, who is its president, and two other members 
appointed by the Mayor. The board is a part of the 
Department of Public Health. 

State Department of Labor and Industry.—A large pro¬ 
portion of Philadelphians spend the greater part of their 
day in shops and factories. To secure safe and sanitary 
working places for them with plenty of light and air, so 
that their health may not be affected, is the object of 
many state laws. These laws, which are enforced by 
the inspectors of the Department of Labor and Industry 
at Harrisburg, will be described in Chapter XII. 

Conclusion.—Up to this point we have been speaking 
of what the community is doing to make Philadelphia a 
more healthful place in which to live. We are fond of 
saying that public health is purchasable, and that the 
more a city spends effectively for this purpose the 
healthier its people will be. This is undoubtedly true. 
But we should not forget that in this, as in many other 
things, money will not do everything. In order for our 
city health authorities to do their best work they must 
have the encouragement, support, and cheerful coopera¬ 
tion of the citizens. Very often it is hard to comply with 
the laws, but unless these laws are enforced impartially 
and strictly, innocent persons may suffer. 


CHAPTER III 


The Water Supply 

A long time ago, when Philadelphia was a small town, 
every .family had to depend upon a well for water. 
Pictures still exist showing pumps standing in Market 
and Chestnut Streets. It was very inconvenient, as we 



(Courtesy of the Bureau of Water) 
OLD FAIRMOUNT WATER WORKS 


may imagine, to have to go into the yard or street and 
fill a heavy pail every time that one had use for water. 
Besides the inconvenience, when the town grew into a 
city, well water became dangerous to health. This was 
because the presence of so many people caused a large 
amount of waste water, and as this water passed into the 

( 51 ) 













52 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


ground it made the well water impure. Impure water 
is one of the chief causes of disease, especially of typhoid 
fever. Soon after the Revolution the problem of supply¬ 
ing the people with sufficient pure water to meet the ever 
increasing demands began to trouble the city officers. 

Our first city water system consisted of a pumping 
station which pumped water from the Schuylkill River to 
a reservoir on the present site of the City Hall. Phila¬ 
delphia’s next water works were in Fairmount Park, near 
the Green Street entrance. The old buildings with their 
rows of gray columns are still standing on the edge of the 
river. The city now maintains an aquarium there. The 
districts outside of the original city were served by sepa¬ 
rate plants, some built by the district governments, some 
by private companies. After the consolidation of the 
city, in 1854, Philadelphia came into possession of the 
water works which were publicly owned and later the city 
purchased from the companies the private plants. When 
the filtration system was started in 1900, the city had 
several pumping stations, some on the Schuylkill, and 
some on the Delaware. 

Need of Filtration.—As Philadelphia grew, other towns 
above us on the two rivers were growing and sending 
larger and larger amounts of sewage and factory waste 
into the rivers from which we drew our water. If we 
look at the map of Pennsylvania we shall see that 
Burlington, Bristol, and Trenton are all above us on the 
Delaware, while Norristown, Bridgeport, Pottstown, 
Phoenixville, and Reading are above us on the Schuylkill. 
Of course some of the filth from those towns and cities 
sinks to the bottom of the river or is purified by the 
action of the air, but enough remains to make the water 


THE WATER SUPPLY 


53 


unpleasant and unsafe. Even a portion of our own 
sewage backs up the rivers to the place where we draw 
our water. 

The subject of purifying Philadelphians water supply 
had been under consideration since 1858, but it was not 



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{Courtesy of the Bureau of Water) 

DIAGRAM SHOWING DEATH RATE FROM TYPHOID FROM 1886 TO 1916 


until 1899 that any agreement was reached. During the 
last twenty years of the nineteenth century the situation 
had been very serious. Philadelphia had the unenviable 
reputation of having a higher death rate from typhoid 
fever than any other large city in the United States. 
The water was often so filthy that a coating of mud 
would settle in the bottom of a basin or bath tub. Those 
who could afford to do so always bought their drinking 




















































































































































54 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


water by the bottle from water dealers, who throve on 
the city’s distress. The poor either boiled the muddy 
water or ran the risk of dying of typhoid fever. Acting 
on the recommendations of a committee which had 
studied the problem of water supply, Councils in January, 
1900, authorized the construction of filtration plants 
within the city limits. Down to the present time more 
than 167,000,000 have been spent on this work. 

The Filtration System.—It took nine years to complete 
our five filtration plants, but as each one was finished the 
effect upon the death rate from typhoid fever was noted 
at once. The rates for the city as a whole during the 
years before and after the introduction of filtered water 
are sufficient proof of the value of the system. 


Number of persons dying of iypJwid fever in one hundred thousand 

of the population. 


(From the report of the Bureau of Health for 1918.) 


1895. 

. 40.0 

1906. 

. 73.3 

1896. 

. 33.6 

1907. 

. 60.3 

1897.. 

. 32.8 

1908. 

. 35.5 

1898. 

. 51.3 

1909. 

. 21.7 

1899. 

. 74.6 

1910. 

. 17.5 

1900. 

. 34.6 

1911. 

. 14.5 

1901. 

. 33.6 

1912. 

. 12.7 

1902. 

. 43.6 

1913. 

. 15.7 

1903. 

. 69.7 

1914. 

. 7.4 

1904. 

. 53.2 

1915. 

. 6.5 

1905. 

. 48.0 

1916. 

. 7.5 


The fluctuations were partly due to other causes, but 
the general decrease of the rate is clearly due to the 
improvement of the water. 

These five filtration plants clean more than 300,000,000 
gallons of water every day. If you can imagine a huge 
























THE WATER SUPPLY 


55 


water tank made big enough to contain City Hall, tower 
and all, that would represent the amount of water filtered 



Map showing five filtration plants and Pennypack sewage disposal plant. 

in sixty-seven hours, or less than three days. More 
important than the amount of water is the fact that it 
is clear and clean and contains a very small number of 











56 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


harmful bacteria. It is only after a severe storm which 
has stirred up the rivers that we are troubled with cloudy 
water. At the laboratories of the Bureau of Water, 
expert chemists test the water every day to see that it is 
good. To clean so much water in a day is a great task, 
and it is very interesting to see how the work is done. 
If we look at the little map of the filtration system w^e 
shall see that we have four plants on the Schuylkill 
River called the Upper Roxborough, Lower Roxborough, 
Belmont, and Queen Lane filtration plants. Each one 
is located on the high land above the river and is supplied 
with water by a pumping station on the bank below. 
The first two are fed by the same pumping station. The 
two Roxborough plants furnish water to Roxborough, 
Manayunk, Germantown, and Chestnut Hill; the Bel¬ 
mont plant supplies West Philadelphia, and the Queen 
Lane plant supplies Tioga and the surrounding districts. 
All of these together produce only one-third of the water 
for Philadelphia. The main part of Philadelphia receives 
its water from the gigantic Torresdale filtration plant 
on the Delaware River to the north, the largest one 
of its kind in the world. This plant alone furnishes 
our city with as much water as is supplied to the entire 
city of London. 

The Torresdale Plant.—Let us pay a visit to Torres¬ 
dale and see how the work is done. As we approach the 
river we see a group of yellow brick buildings with tall 
chimneys close to the bank, and next to them a large 
green field dotted over with little brick houses set in 
even rows. The buildings are the offices and engine 
rooms and the little houses are the entrances to the 
sand filter beds, of which there are sixty-five. I et us 


THE TORRESDALE FILTRATION PLANT [Courtrj^y of the Bureau of Water) 







58 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


first go down to the river bank to see where the water 
comes from. Half a mile up the river is a great reservoir 
which is called the ^^sedimentation basin/’ because the 
water is allowed to stand there to settle. It is on a level 
with the river and the dirty water flows into the sedi¬ 
mentation basin through a screen. While the water 
stands, most of the mud sinks to the bottom of the 
basin. The somewhat clearer water is drawn off from 
the top of the basin, after it has stood for twelve hours, 
and is pumped up the hill to the filter beds. In the large 
building on the river’s edge are the great engines which 
do this work. 

The water is passed on through a conduit eleven feet in 
diameter to buildings called ^^preliminary filters,” where 
it goes through tanks containing gravel and sand. There 
are one hundred and twenty of these filters. The filters 
strain off still more of the mud. From this the pipes 
carry the water to one of the many ^^slow sand filters,” 
where the final clearing is done. These filters are like 
vaulted cellars, built under the ground, and having for 
their entrances the little yellow brick houses which we 
saw as we approached the place. At the bottom of these 
filters is a layer of broken stone covered wdth gravel, 
and on top of the gravel a thick layer of fine brown sand. 
The water from the preliminary filter is allowed to run in 
slowly and sink down through the layers of sand, gravel, 
and broken stone until it passes out through pipes at 
the bottom. It must go slowly, so that all of the dirt 
and most of the bacteria may be removed. The pipes 
from the slow filters run to ^Hhe clear water basin,” 
where the water is kept under cover until it passes out to 
the homes of the people. 


THE WATER SUPPLY 


59 


The Torresdale plants unlike the others, has two pump¬ 
ing stations. This is made necessary by the fact that the 
filter beds are near the level of the river. After the 
water has been filtered it has to be pumped up to a higher 
level, so that it will flow into the buildings of the city. 
The pumping station for the filtered water is on the 
river bank a short distance below at Lardner’s Point. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Water ) 

WASHING THE SAND AT THE TORRESDALE FILTERS 


The district served by the Torresdale plant has the Oak 
Lane reservoir at Fifth Street and Chelten Avenue for a 
reserve supply. The amount of water used is irregular, 
and sometimes water is needed faster then the pumps 
supply it. In case of extra need, 70,000,000 gallons 
stored there may be drawn upon. 

The removal of the bacteria from the water is hard to 
understand. We know that bacteria are very small— 



60 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


so small that we can see them only through a very strong 
microscope—and that some of them are very dangerous, 
causing diseases like typhoid fever. Passing the water 
through the sand could not strain out the bacteria as it 
does the particles of mud, because the bacteria are too 
small. What is it then that happens in the filter to 
remove them from the water? It has been discovered 
that a layer of good bacteria forms on the surface of the 
sand like a coating of jelly, after the filter has been 
running for two or three days. These good bacteria 
kill the bad ones as they come through and so purify 
the water from disease germs. The action of the good 
bacteria is what makes the sand filter so successful in 
reducing the danger from typhoid and other diseases. 

High Service Stations.—Certain portions of the city 
are so high above the filtration plants that the ordinary 
water service will not reach them. To meet this need 
there are four ^^high service stations,^’ which pump 
filtered water into standpipes, thus securing enough 
elevation to supply these districts. The George’s Hill 
Station serves Overbrook, the Wentz Farm Station serves 
Frankford, and the Mt. Airy and Roxborough Stations 
serve the districts of the same name. 

A Great Industrial Plant.—As it stands to-day, Philadel¬ 
phia’s water system represents an investment by the 
city of more than S67,000,000. In addition to being 
owned by the city, this valuable industrial plant is 
operated by the city. It is an example of efficient and 
successful municipal ownership and operation” of a 
public utility. The operation of this great plant necessi¬ 
tates the steady employment of more than 2,000 men, 
the payment of more than $1,300,000 a year for salaries 


THE WATER SUPPLY 


61 


and wages, and the payment of about $1,000,000 a 
year for other expenses, exclusive of interest on borrowed 
money. The branch of the city government which 
operates and manages the water system is known as the 
Bureau of Water, one of the several bureaus comprising 
the Department of Public Works; and the official respon¬ 
sible for the operation and management of the system is 
known as the Chief of the Bureau of Water and is sub¬ 
ordinate to the Director of the Department of Public 
Works, who is appointed by the Mayor. 

In accordance with the most approved ideas concerning 
the operation of a business enterprise by a government, 
the aim has been to make the water system self-supporting 
—that is, to collect from the consumers of the water at 
least enough money to cover the expense of collecting, 
purifying, and distributing the water, and to cover 
interest on such of the cost of the system as has not been 
paid for. Notwithstanding the smallness of the charges 
which the city makes for the water which it supplies, and 
notwithstanding the great wastage of water by the 
water consumers, Philadelphia’s water system supports 
itself and pays a profit. 

At present the city charges for its water on several 
plans. Some consumers are charged flat rates—that is, 
they are charged so much per year according to the num¬ 
ber and kinds of water-consuming fixtures on their 
premises, upon the uses to which the water is put, or 
upon the size of the connection to dhe water main. 
Others are charged meter rates—that is, they are charged 
according to the quantity of water delivered to their 
premises through water meters, the rates being graded 
according to the sizes of the connections to the water 


62 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


mains or according to the uses to which the water 
is put. 

Owing to the great wastage of water by many of those 
who pay flat rates—the annual water bill being the same 
no matter how much water they use or waste—and 


GROWTH OF PHILADELPHIA'S POPULATION 
AND WATER CONSUMPTION 



GROWTH OF PHILADELPHIA’S POPULATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION 

In 1917 the population of the city was estimated at 1,733,000, but the daily consumption 
of water had decreased to 315,910,000 gallons, or 182 gallons daily per capita. This 
decrease in consumption was attributed to the increased use of water meters. 

because charging for water according to the quantity 
which a consumer draws through his premises is fairest 
to all, the city is requiring new consumers and certain 
classes of old consumers to adopt the meter plan and is en¬ 
couraging others to do likewise, with the result that the flat 
rate plans are rapidly being superseded by the meter plan. 

Fire Protection.—There is a close connection between 
the water supply and our protection from fire. The 










THE WATER SUPPLY 


63 


firemen are dependent upon the Bureau of Water to give 
them enough water to fight fires. Most of the fireplugs 
which you see on the streets are connected with the 
regular mains of filtered water. In the portion of the 
city near the Delaware River, where the largest mills and 
warehouses are located, there is a special water supply 
called the ‘^high-pressure system.’^ A pumping station 
at Race Street and Delaware Avenue pumps water 
directly from the river. Another at Seventh Street and 
Lehigh Avenue takes it from the old Kensington reservoir, 
filled from the Torresdale filtration plant. The pumps 
are worked by high-power gas engines which can be 
started very quickly and which send great streams of 
water with tremendous force. There are special fire¬ 
plugs in these districts for the high-pressure system. Hose 
connected with these will send streams of water into the 
tenth story of a building. (See chapter on fire fight¬ 
ing and fire prevention.) 

Water Waste.—The great problem which is facing 
the Bureau of Water continually is how to provide 
enough water to meet the demands of the city. The 
population and industries are both growing very rapidly. 
Recently the situation became so acute that the pres¬ 
sure was insufficient in several sections of the city. 
Additional supplies are especially needed in South 
Philadelphia. This lack of water was made one of the 
excuses for the dirty condition of the streets, since the 
chief of the water bureau was obliged to forbid, at times, 
the use of water for flushing the streets. There was 
fear of an insufficient supply for fire fighting. 

The daily output of more than 300,000,000 gallons 
would seem to be enough when you consider that it 


64 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


means a per capita supply of almost 200 gallons. New 
York’s per capita supply is 103 gallons, Boston’s 157, 
and Cleveland’s 104. 

The Chief of the Bureau of Water claims that our 
shortage is partly due to waste. An investigation under¬ 
taken by the bureau in 1913 showed that there were 
leaking faucets and hydrants everywhere. One institu¬ 
tion alone was found to be wasting 1,000,000 gallons 
every day. It seems rather foolish for the city to spend 
so much money to clean water which runs right into the 
sewers. It is not good business. 

What remedies are proposed to prevent our having 
to spend more millions for more filtration plants to keep 
up with the increasing demands for water? The first 
and simplest thing would be to oblige the owner of every 
house and business building to install a meter and pay 
by the gallon for the water he uses. That would make 
them more economical. A beginning has been made, 
as stated above, by requiring certain classes of consumers 
to install meters. Many householders and business 
men have done so voluntarily and thus helped to save 
water. [A second remedy would be to educate the people 
of Philadelphia to realize that it is their money which 
is being wasted when they let the faucets and hydrants 
run, and get everybody to help to save the property of 
the whole community. This is one of the matters in 
which children can help their city directly. 

Water Supply and Sewage.—The more than 300,000,000 
gallons per day pumped and filtered flows through the 
pipes and faucets of the city’s buildings, out again through 
the waste pipes and sewers, and back into the rivers. 
The volume of sewage is increased by the rain which 



THE WATER SUPPLY 


65 


falls in the streets and runs off through the sewer inlets 
at the corners. To dispose of this enormous quantity of 
dirty water makes another problem for the community. 

The waste pipes under the street are made of terra 
cotta, brick, or concrete, and empty into large sewers. 
The volume of waste is so great that these sewers are 



UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES AT TENTH AND WALNUT STREETS 
Notice the high-pressure water main below the sewer near the bottom of the picture. 


often like tunnels, and are so large that men can walk 
through some of them standing erect. One of the 
newest, the Wingohocking Creek sewer, is nineteen feet 
in diameter, large enough to drive a horse and wagon 
through. The main sewers empty into either Frankford 
Creek, the Delaware, or the Schuylkill River. Their 
mouths are supposed to be far enough down the river so 
as not to interfere with the intake of water for the city’s 


5 






CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


()6 


water works. As a matter of fact, a portion of our 
sewage does back up so far as to affect the source of our 
water supply. The planning and locating of the sewers 
are done by the Bureau of Surveys, of the Department of 
Public Works, but they are built by contractors under 
direction and inspection by that bureau. 

When towns were small and population was scanty, 
there was little objection to sending the sewage into 

the rivers. The action 
of the friendly bacteria 
soon purified it. But 
the more dense the popu¬ 
lation, the more danger¬ 
ous it becomes. We 
have to clean from the 
river water the refuse of 
the towns above us on 
the river banks, as has 
been explained. We in 
turn pollute the river 
which flows on down to 
Chester and Wilmington. 
The Chief of the Bureau of Surveys estimated in 1915 that 
400,000,000 gallons of sewage daily are emptied into the 
Delaware River. The river water carries not only filth 
but disease germs. It menaces health, is unpleasant to 
look at and to smell, and deposits slime upon the bottom, 
thus helping to fill up the channel. The United States 
Government and the city government are constantly 
working to keep the channel clear of mud so that large 
sea-going vessels may not have difficulty in coming up 
to the wharves of Philadelphia. It is poor policy to add 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 
TYPICAL CITY SEWER OUTLET 







THE WATER SUPPLY 


67 


to the mud which the government must remove. In 
view of these facts, the State Legislature in 1905 passed 
a law forbidding any town or city to discharge sewage 
into the watercourses of the state. Every city must 
file plans for sewers and sewage disposal with the Depart¬ 
ment of Health at Harrisburg. 

Philadelphia already has one such sewage disposal 
plant on the Pennypack Creek sewer in the northeastern 
part of the city, which cares for 2,000,000 gallons daily 




iLUD6£ 


CONSTANT H£AO 
TAm 


{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 


TLTCTftrCAL CONTffOL TON 
mCH/NC /N OAC/tAT/NS 
HOUSE 

^ CAM CONTROL OTBUTTERnr 
^ MU'S TO CAUSE emOULAT/NS HEAD 


rCRCE NA/N 


EMSCHER TANK 


CPERAT/N6 
HOUSE 
SETTLED 'SEWA6E 
TO DRLUE WATER-mEEl 


EERCOLAT/N 
mSTE WATER EROH WHEEL 
D/SamSEO ON SENS 


DLS/NEECnON HOUSE 


r/NAL SETTL/NG 
BAS/N 


OUJTALL j 


DIAGRAM OF THE PENNYPACK CREEK SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT \ 

The sludge or solid matter settles to the bottom of the Emscher tank. The water 
then goes on to the percolating or trickling Alter shown in another, picture. A chemical 
which still further puriAes the water is added at the Disinfection House. The water 
emerges practically pure. 

and so prevents pollution of the Delaware near the 
Torresdale water works. At the Pennypack Creek 
plant the process is somewhat like the filtration of the 
city^s water described above. The sewage first enters 
large sedimentation tanks. It remains there for two 
hours while the solid materials are settling to the bottom. 
The water then flows off from the tanks, and is passed 
through a ‘Trickling filter,” where it falls as a spray on 
broken stone thus being aerated and subjected to the 
action of friendly bacteria. Then it is disinfected to 
destroy disease germs and returned to the river. The 
superintendent of the plant claims that the water is 




























68 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


perfectly clean. The solids are taken from the tanks, 
dried and used for fertilizers. 

The Bureau of Surveys conducted a study of the 
problem for over ten years, examining the methods in use 
in cities abroad as well as in the United States. In 1915 
they made a report to Councils which has been approved 
by the state and is Philadelphia's plan for the future. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 
TRICKLING FILTER IN OPERATION 


The sewage gushes up through these nozzles and trickles over a bed of crushed stones. 
Exposure to the sun and air renders it harmless and it may then be turned into the river. 

The report advocated the construction of three great 
sewage disposal plants: one on the Delaware River 
below Bridesburg, one on the Delaware in the lower part 
of the city near Greenwich Point, the third in the south¬ 
ern part of West Philadelphia near the mouth of the 
Schuylkill River on the Cannon Ball Farm." The 
plants were to be completed by 1950 and the estimated 
cost by that time was $34,000,000. That cost includes 
not only construction of the plants but purchase of the 









THE WATER SUPPLY 


69 


sites and the building of very large collecting sewers to 
conduct the sewage to the disposal centers. It will cost 
$500,000 a year to maintain the system after it is built. 

Citizens have it in their power to decrease this expense 
in the same way that they may decrease the cost of 
filtration of water. Philadelphia wastes much of its 
water and this waste not only adds to the cost of the 
Bureau of Water but increases the sewage to be dis¬ 
posed of. 

Conclusion. —We have seen how the people of Phila¬ 
delphia have secured a water supply from the days of 
wells and pumps to the present time, yet the first problem 
is still with us: how to secure enough water for the 
rapidly growing city. Not only is the population increas¬ 
ing but the uses for water are more every year. One 
great manufacturing plant to-day demands more than 
the whole city in the days of the first water works in 
Center Square. Modern standards of living demand 
water in every house and at least one bathroom to a 
family. Modern methods of street cleaning require that 
the streets should be flushed at least once a week. Let 
us hope that the problem of a sufficient water supply 
will soon be solved. 


CHAPTER IV 


Street Cleaning and Waste Disposal 

The chapter on health shows how pure air is necessary 
to preserve the health of the community. Yet we have 
often walked along the street on a windy day when 
dust, swept up by the wind and whirled along in clouds, 
filled our eyes, nose, and mouth. The more we had 
studied about health matters the less we liked this. 
We knew that the bacteria and microbes which carry 
disease were mixed in with that dust; each particle was 
a ^^germ airplane.’’ 

Who Litters the Streets?—Why do we have so much 
dirt in the streets? A walk along Broad Street will tell 
us. As we approach Arch Street we find the workmen 
busy paving it with wooden blocks. Piles of sand are 
heaped beside the street for use in the work. The wind 
catches the sand and spreads a little of it on the asphalted 
surface of the street. . At Cherry Street we see a new 
automobile palace in process of erection; bricks are 
piled beside the street, bags of cement, packing boxes 
with excelsior dropping out of them, and ashes and sand 
for making a pavement are scattered around. 

In the next block a boy is sweeping out a shop. He 
sweeps the dirt across the sidewalk and deposits dust, 
shavings, and papers in the gutter for the wind to scatter. 
A contractor’s wagon passes with a load of sand. The 
driver has filled it to the top, and as it jolts along it 
leaves a fine trail of sand behind it. 

( 70 ) 


STREET CLEANING 


71 


As we pass Mount Vernon Street a gust of wind brings 
out pieces of newspaper, wall paper, and a rag or two. 
Where does it come from? It is the day for collection of 
ashes and rubbish. In front of each house is a motley 
collection of baskets, boxes, and cans. Some are good 
strong galvanized iron cans, others are frail peach baskets 
lined with newspapers and leaking ashes at every opening. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Street Cleaning) 
MOTOR-DRIVEN ASH CART 


On one corner there is a very shabby man with some 
big bags. He pokes a long hook into bundles and tears 
them all to pieces trying to find some salable rubbish. 
He puts the scraps into his bag and moves on to tear up 
the contents of another box or can. 

A little later the city rubbish and ash collectors pass. 
The rubbish collectors have large wagons with high 
sides so that they may carry a large amount of material 











72 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


which is light and bulky. They take the contents of the 
boxes and bundles but leave the scattered fragments 
behind. 

On certain days, also, the garbage pails will be out 
waiting for the collectors. Unless the cans are covered, 
the neighborhood dogs go through the contents and 
scatter them on the pavement. The garbage collectors 
are likely to be careless and leave remnants of food on the 
sidewalk. If the wagons are overfilled they add to the 
general dirt of the street as they pass along. Every 
residence street, unless the houses open at the rear on a 
small street or alley, is mussed up for one or two days in 
the week by setting out waste for collection. If by 
accident the collectors do not come on the appointed day, 
the number of days of dirt and muss is increased. 

The Laws.—It is easy to see where all the dirt which 
we notice in the street comes from. One naturally asks 
why things are not better done. As a matter of fact, the 
city and state governments have been concerned about 
these matters and have passed laws and ordinances to 
prevent the littering of the streets. In 1917 the city 
government issued a card of warning to citizens, giving 
the brief statement of the laws as follows: 

* > ' ' 

TO AVOID ERROR—KNOW THE LAW 

TO AVOID THE PENALTY—OBEY THE LAW 


Separation of Ashes and Rubbish 

Ordinance of City Councils, July 16, 1909: Forbids any person or 
persons “to place upon the streets or footways in receptacles containing 
ashes, sweepings or other refuse, any waste paper, card board or box 
board of any character or description.” 

Penalty: For each violation of this law, five (5) dollars. 



STREET CLEANING 


73 


use of Proper Ash, Rubbish, and Garbage Receptacles 

Act of State Assembly, April 11, 1915: Requires that “the occu¬ 
pant or tenant of every dwelling, and of each apartment in a two-family 
house, the lessee or conductor of every rooming house, and the conductor 
of every tenement-house, shall provide for each apartment under his super¬ 
vision a suitable non-absorbent, non-leakable, covered receptacle for gar¬ 
bage, and a receptacle of approved kind for ashes. All occupants or 
tenants of buildings of the foregoing classes shall securely bundle all 
rubbish, waste paper and like refuse in such manner as to prevent it from 
causing a nuisance upon the property or upon the street when the col¬ 
lectors are taking it away.” 

Under the authority of this law, the Resolution of the City Board of 
Health, May 19, 1916: Requires that 

Ash Receptacles: Shall be substantial, tight containers, prefer¬ 
ably of metal, and should not have a capacity of over 5 cubic feet; 
and they should not be filled higher than 3 inches below the top of the 
receptacles. 

Rubbish, Waste Paper and Like Refuse: Shall be securely 
bundled or placed in tight receptacles in such a manner as to prevent 
them from causing a nuisance upon the property or upon the street. 

Garbage Receptacles: Shall be of metfil, tightly made, and 
shall be covered with close-fitting covers. 

Penalty: For the first violation of this law, five (5) to fifty (50) 
dollars. For the second violation of this law, twenty-five (25) to two hun¬ 
dred (200) dollars or sixty (60) days or less imprisonment or both. 

Scavengers and Rag Pickers 

Act of State Assembly, April 20, 1905: Forbids any person or per¬ 
sons, “to interfere with, scatter or disturb the contents of any receptacle 
or receptacles containing ashes, garbage, household waste, or rubbish, 
which shall be placed on any street or sidewalk for the collection of the 
contents thereof.” 

Penalty: For each violation of this law, ten (10) dollars. 


Store Sweepings 

Ordinance of City Councils, March 7, 1882: Forbids any person or 
persons to “place any sweepings or other dirt or rubbish from any store 
or other building, upon the streets or the footways except in proper 
receptacles.” 

Penalty: For each violation of this law, twenty (20) dollars. 

Throwing or Sweeping of Rubbish or An5rthing 
Else Upon the Streets 

Act of State Assembly, April 20,1905: Forbids any person or persons 
“to throw waste paper, sweepings, ashes, household waste, nails or rubbish of 
any kind into any street.” 

Penalty: For each violation of this law, ten (10) dollars. 


74 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Distribution of Advertising Literature 

Ordinance of March 31, 1900: Forbids any person or persons “to 
cast, or place in the streets or on the footways or into the vestibules or 
yards, or upon the porches of any dwellings or other buildings, any papers, 
advertisements, handbills, circulars or waste paper.” 

Penalty: For each violation of this law, twenty (20) dollars. 


Overloading of Wagons or Other Vehicles 

Ordinance of City Councils, March 7, 1882: Forbids any person or 
persons, “to let fall, spill, or dump any ashes, dirt, rubbish, or garbage 
from any cart, wagon, or vehicle upon the public highways of the city.” 
Penalty: For each violation of this law, twenty (20) dollars. 


In addition to these requirements, anyone who wishes 
to put bricks, sand, or other building materials in the 
streets must secure a permit from the Bureau of High¬ 
ways. For this privilege a charge is made. The bureau 
has been very generous with its permits, granting 12,000 
in the year 1917 alone. Building material is piled along 
some streets for weeks at a time. Recently an ordinance 
has been passed requiring the applicant for a permit to 
pay according to the space used and the length of time 
the material is left in the street. This will undoubtedly 
bring about great improvement. 

The reason for most of these regulations is plain. It 
may not be so clear, however, why the different kinds of 
waste material must be put into separate receptacles. 
Garbage must be kept by itself because the contractor 
who removes it takes it to a reduction plant to be made 
into oils and fertilizer. The ashes are needed to fill in 
lowlands and marshes. For such a purpose clean ashes 
are preferable. The rubbish is taken to separate dumps. 
At the dumps an effort has been made to have the rubbish 
sorted and various articles picked out—such as old felt 
hats, rubber, iron, and tin cans, which have a value 


STREET CLEANING 


75 


because they can be sold; but in Philadelphia, at present, 
this is left to scavengers. 

Why the Laws Are Not Obeyed.—It is perfectly evident 
that our streets would be kept clean if the laws were 
obeyed. Some people do not care; others make money 
by obstructing the streets. Our policemen can easily 
discover most of the offenders, and our courts can punish 
them, but public opinion would not support the enforce¬ 
ment of the law. A writer in the Public Ledgerj Novem¬ 
ber 5, 1916, said that in New York in one year 5,951 
people were arrested for littering the streets, and of 
these 4,759 were fined or imprisoned. Hardly any arrests 
are made in Philadelphia. We shall have clean streets 
as soon as we insist that the laws shall be obeyed. 

Waste Disposal.—Instead of dumping the ashes and 
rubbish in low places, some cities have plants where 
everything that can be burned is used as fuel to furnish 
power for lighting the city. Minneapolis lights and 
heats a public hospital and the workhouse building by 
the burning of its refuse, and in addition lights over 
thirty-one miles of streets. Several other cities operate 
such plants. The power derived does not entirely pay 
the cost of disposal of the waste but reduces it con¬ 
siderably. The cost of running the Minneapolis plant is 
$29,000 and the income received from it is $12,000. 
Philadelphia paid in 1916, $867,000 for the disposal of 
ashes, rubbish, and garbage. Even a portion of that 
would be worth saving. 

Most of the garbage is hauled to the Schuylkill River, 
and dumped into barges which carry it down to the 
plant of the reduction company. A visit to this plant 
would show a large group of buildings close to the rivar 



76 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


bank. At the water’s edge is one of the barges from 
up the river. The unpleasant mass is being unloaded by 
a steam shovel that reaches down into the boat, seizes 
a ton or two at one bite and lifts it over the dock above 
a great funnel, where it drops the load. Apple peelings, 
bread, corn husks, meat scraps, and all the rest pass 
down the kmnel into a moving trough which carries the 
mass into the upper stories of the building. As it moves 
upward boys pick out tin cans, bottles, and other objects 
which should not be put into garbage pails. 

Climbing to the third story of the building, we see the 
next step in the process. There we find ourselves at the 
top of a row of enormous cylindrical iron tanks, two stories 
high and each of a capacity of several hundred gallons. 
From the moving trough of garbage each tank is filled, 
and the covers are then clamped down. Steam is turned 
on through pipes opening into the tanks, and the garbage 
is cooked from five to eight hours until it is reduced to a 
paste. 

Down again we go to the first floor to see where the 
tanks are emptied. Through a funnel-shaped opening 
the cooked mass passes into horizontal cylinders where 
a piston-like arrangement presses out grease and liquid. 
The grease is refined by a gasoline process until it is 
clear and pure. In its different stages it is sold for 
commercial purposes. The presses are opened and the 
pressed material or ^Tankage” is carried on moving 
platforms to ovens where it is dried until it becomes 
a scorched brown powder. Boatloads of this material 
are sent South to be used as the basis of fertilizer. 

The cost to the city of getting its garbage removed has 
steadily grown, from about $275,000 in 1914 to nearly 


STREET CLEANING 


77 


$725,000 in 1919. Why this remarkable increase should 
have occurred, even with the rise in wages and other 
expenses of production, is hard to see when the products 
of the garbage disposal process have steadily increased 
in value. The work must be done well, for decaying 
garbage in a city is a menace to health. Tons of it 
accumulate every day, and if left it becomes a source of 
unpleasant odors, especially in the summer time, and is a 
breeding place for flies, which spread disease. The 
question which Philadelphians should consider is whether 
the work is being done economically and efficiently. 

There are several reasons for the high cost of garbage 
removal here. Prior to the revision of the city charter 
in 1919, the law required that a contract for removing 
and disposing of the garbage for one year should be 
awarded to the lowest bidder. In Philadelphia there 
was but one garbage disposal plant, therefore only one 
bidder, because outside contractors would not consider 
it worth while to build a plant for a one-year term. 
Sometimes, as in the fall of 1917, the bid was refused 
because the Director of Public Works thought it was too 
high. When he did this, he ran the risk of having no 
one to remove the garbage, but usually the company 
anticipated this and was able to make a small reduction 
and get the contract. 

The new charter has provided a remedy for fhis bad 
state of affairs. Section 5 of Article XX of the charter 
bill reads: “After the 31st day of December, 1920, the 
repair and cleaning of the streets, the collection of ashes, 
waste, rubbish and garbage within the limits of the city 
and the disposal of street sweepings, ashes, waste, rubbish 
and garbage shall be done directly by the city.’’ But 
there is a provision “that any such work may be done by 


78 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


contract when authorized by the Council by a vote of a 
majority of all the members, with the approval of the 
Mayor.’’ The time-limit has been removed and the 
city may contract any work for any length of time, but 
may end any contract after four years. The city is given 
the power to lease or construct plants to be used in con¬ 
nection with any of the purposes mentioned in the above 
section. 

Experiments are being made in various cities with 
public ownership of plants for the disposal of garbage. 

It is likely that honest 
and efficient business 
management will find a 
way to save a consider¬ 
able portion of the half 
million dollars now paid 
for this service. It is 
clear that the city might 

{Courtesy of the Bureau of Street Cleaning) ^ l 

SPRINKLER AND MACHINE SWEEPERS HOW made 

by the contractor and 
the value of the by-products derived from the garbage. 

Street Cleaning.—It is evident that much of the dirt 
which collects in the streets could be prevented. The 
removal of the dirt is one of the largest items of expense 
in the city’s accounts for the year. 

Let us go back to Broad and Mount Vernon Streets, 
where we watched the collectors of ashes and rubbish at 
work. Mount Vernon Street is paved with asphalt at 
this point, so we shall observe the method of cleaning 
which is adapted to smooth pavements. First in order 
comes a sprinkler wetting down the dust. It is followed 
by a squeegee. This street-cleaning machine has a roller 










STREET CLEANING 


79 



covered with projecting bands or of rubber. The 

principle is the same as that of the rubber squeegees 
which are used in cleaning windows. As the horses 
draw it, the roller turns, and the dirt is scraped from the 
smooth surface of the street. The roller is placed 
diagonally between the wheels so that as it turns and 
scrapes the surface, the dirt is thrown to one side of the 


street. After the squeegee comes a ^^gang^’ of men in 
white uniforms with brooms to sweep into piles the dirt 
left by the squeegee. Then follow men in brown uniforms, 
with shovels and wagons, who take up the piles. It is 
important that the whole group shall work together, 
because if the refuse is left in the street it will be 
scattered by the wind and traffic. The contract allows 
no longer than an hour before the dirt is removed. 

Now if we go around into Sixteenth Street we shall 


{Courtesy of the Bureau of Street Cleaning) 
SQUEEGEES AT WORK 










80 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

I 

find the gang cleaning by the method required for a 
street paved with granite blocks. The surface is rough, 
so the squeegee could not clean the mud out of the 
cracks. It is therefore replaced by a machine broom 
which has a roller like the squeegee, but the rubber fins 
on it are replaced by brushes made from splints of wood. 


{Courtesy of the Bureau of Street Cleaning) 
HIGH-PRESSURE FLUSHER 

While we are watching, a man in a gray uniform 
arrives on a bicycle and gives some orders to the workers. 
He is the gang superintendent whose duty it is to see 
that the work is done properly. Each workman and 
each wagon and piece of apparatus has a number, so 
that an inspector can report any delinquency or any need 
of repairs. Citizens, also, in reporting any failure in duty 
on the part of the street-cleaning force should always give 






STREET CLEANING 


81 


the number of the district and the number of the man 
who is criticized, as well as the day and hour if possible. 

If we were watching a street-cleaning gang nearer the 
center of the city we should see different methods used. 
Some gangs are furnished with high-pressure motor 
flushers. These are like large motor sprinklers which 
give enough force to the water to flush the dirt from 
the streets into the gutters. They are generally followed 
by men who sweep the water into the sewers. Many 
narrow streets and alleys are cleaned by men with hand 
brooms and hand hose. In the region from Vine Street 
to Washington Avenue and east of Broad Street and also 
on Market Street, west to the river, it is required that 
the machine street cleaning shall be done at night, 
except in winter time. The object of this is to avoid 
interference with the heavy traffic in the daytime 
and annoyance to the crowds which throng these 
streets. 

Everywhere throughout the city between the regular 
cleaning times you will see the ‘^blockman’^ at work. 
According to the specifications for 1917, his outfit should 
consist of a can carrier on wheels, bags or cans, a scraper, 
a broom, a wrench to open the water plugs, a hand water¬ 
ing pot, and a shovel. It is his business to sweep up the 
refuse as fast as it collects, put it in a bag or can, and 
leave it at a specified spot for the man who comes around 
with a dirt cart. Each man is assigned to one or more 
blocks. The more crowded the section, the shorter the 
route given to him. 

For the purpose of cleaning our more than 1,700 miles 
of streets and roads the city is divided into nine districts. 
The work in each district is carried on by a contractor 


6 


82 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


paid by the city. No contractor is allowed to have 
more than two districts. The arrangement is intended 
to secure better work and to keep several firms in the 
field so that it may not become a monopoly as in the case 
of the garbage disposal. Ostensibly the firms bidding 
against each other help to keep down the price; it is 
quite possible for one contractor to control several 
firms appearing under different names and so evade 
the law. 

The Bureau of Street Cleaning issues specifications 
each year, giving full details of the work to be done by 
the contractors. These tell which streets must be 
cleaned every day, every other day, every week, etc. 
They also state the number of men of each classification 
for each district, and the kinds of apparatus to be used. 
Another important item is a statement of the fines to be 
paid by the contractor for failing to live up to the 
specifications. 

The Bureau of Street Cleaning of the Department of 
Public Works prepares the specifications and supervises 
the work. Its inspectors go throughout the city and 
report to district offices any violations of the specifica¬ 
tions which they find. The work is very hard to super¬ 
vise because the operations are so many and varied and 
so widely scattered. It has been estimated that it would 
one hundred and twenty men to do it thoroughly 



e city affords only thirty-five. 


The method of punishment by fines for failure to keep 
the terms of the contract does not work very well. Occa¬ 
sionally the Director of the Department of Public Works 
deducts from the monthly payments to the contractor 
considerable sums of money, but the contractor often 


STREET CLEANING 


83' 


saves more money by omitting to do the work than he 
loses in fines. 

These minute directions, the employment of inspectors 
and many other members of a Bureau of Street Cleaning, 
and the expenditure of two and one-half millions of 
dollars per year ought to give us clean streets. We could 
easily observe why the streets are littered; it is not so 
easy to decide why they are not cleaned. Yet it is true 
that the newspapers are full of complaints of the dirty 
streets, and one does not have to go far'with open eyes 
to see that these complaints are well founded. The 
Evening Ledger said in an editorial, June 18, 1917: 
^^The dirtiness of our streets has become a byword. 
Citizens take the condition for granted. If their children 
are stricken down by infantile paralysis or other diseases 
of which dirt is the carrier, they weep their tears and 
lay their flowers on the graves of the innocents, bewailing 
their evil fortune. Better might their consciences smite 
them and their tears beg pardon of the dead for their 
own negligence in having permitted the continuance of 
conditions which they knew, or ought to have known, 
were a constant invitation to death. We sympathize no 
more with communities which are visited by yellow fever 
or smallpox, for we know that only negligence permits 
either to get a hold. No more can sympathy be deserved 
by communities which in this day of scientific sanitation 
countenance highways of filth and accept as inevitable 
these breeding places and carriers of disease.’^ 

There are two ways of administering the cleaning of 
city streets. One is to have the city let the contract for 
the work to a private firm and then employ inspectors 
to see that the contractor does his work properly. The 


84 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


other way is to have the work done by employees of the 
city under the direction of city officials. Our city has 
used the first method for a long time, but the new charter 
directs the city to do this work after December 31, 1920, 
unless a majority of the Council decide to have it done 
by contract. 

New Methods in Street Cleaning.—There are certain 
new devices which are beginning to be seen in Philadel¬ 
phia. Among these are motor-driven rubbish and ash 
wagons, motor squeegees and brushes, scrubbing machines, 
street rubbish cans, and vacuum cleaners. It has been 
the policy of the bureau to require in the specifications 
each year a larger number of motor-driven pieces of 
apparatus, so that the contractors might gradually replace 
those drawn by horses. In Cleveland it has been shown 
that an electric street flusher cleans a mile of street for 
seventy-five cents, while it costs $4.50 to do the same 
with a horse-drawn flusher. In 1917 the contractors 
began to experiment with an automatic motor cleaner; 
it sprinkles, brushes up the dirt, and gathers it into a 
receptacle all in one process. It has been claimed that 
such a machine can clean as much pavement in one hour 
as a horse-drawn sweeper in six hours. 

Paving.—^There is a direct connection between paving 
and street cleaning—so direct that the two subjects are 
usually treated together. It is only smooth pavements 
which can be readily cleaned. The squeegee or the 
vacuum cleaner can pass quickly over them and there 
are no cracks to catch and hold the dirt. Wood block 
pavements when in good condition are about as smooth 
as asphalt. Streets which have very heavy traffic are 
paved with granite blocks, as these resist wear longest. 


STREET CLEANING 


85 


The new granite block paving presents a fairly smooth 
surface, but brushes must be used to take the dust from 
the cracks. Where streets are of the old-fashioned rough 
blocks, or are out of repair, only hand sweeping is satis¬ 
factory. The dirt collects in the depressions and is hard 
to clean out. It is evident that good paving is eco¬ 
nomical, for the large machines cost much less to use 
than a gang of hand sweepers. 

Removal of Snow.—The greatest emergency which the 
Bureau of Street Cleaning has to meet is a heavy snowfall. 
If snow is allowed to accumulate in the streets, all trans¬ 
portation is delayed, workers are late to shop and factory, 
and the city’s business is interfered with or stopped 
altogether. Those who stay at home suffer too, for the 
coal man, the milkman, the butcher, and the baker can¬ 
not make deliveries, and thus many may be actually 
cold and hungry with supplies only a few blocks away. 
The most serious of all the dangers is the danger of fire. 
Fire and police alarm wires may be broken by the storm 
and the streets so blocked by snow that repair wagons 
cannot reach the wires or the engines reach the fire. 
The hydrants too may be covered, so that precious time 
must be wasted in digging them out. At a fire every 
second counts. 

Not so very long ago cities waited until a storm was 
well started and a blockade beginning and then suddenly 
became excited and sent the officials hurrying around to 
collect men and wagons to clear away the snow. Now 
there is a well-recognized method for dealing with such 
emergencies. In the street-cleaning contracts in Philadel¬ 
phia the contractors are obliged to agree to turn their 
forces from their usual work to the removal of snow, and 


86 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to begin as soon as the snow begins to fall. Additional 
contracts were made in 1916 and 1917 in advance for the 
removal of the snow from the central part of the city. 
The traction company cooperates by running trolley 
snowplows to keep the tracks clear. Greater speed has 
been secured by dumping the snow through manholes 
into the sewers instead of carrying it to the rivers. 

There is a law requiring each householder to remove 
the snow from the sidewalk in front of his house to within 
three feet of the curb within six working hours of the 
time that the snow ceases falling. The observance 
depends largely upon the vigilance of the police, who 
are supposed to serve notice upon people not complying 
with the law. 

Clean-Up Week.—In 1913 the Director of the Depart¬ 
ment of Public Works and the Chief of the Bureau of High¬ 
ways inaugurated the plan of an annual clean-up week. 
It was believed that the city contained a great deal of 
dirt and rubbish that was not removed by the ordinary 
methods, and so announcement was made that during the 
week from April 28th to May 3d, any quantity of rubbish 
would be removed free of charge by the city collectors. 
Clever posters were placed upon the billboards all over the 
city, attractive slides were shown in the moving picture 
houses, and circulars with pictures and rhymes were 
given out in the schools, distributed from house to house, 
and pasted on the windows of the trolley cars. 

Johnny had a little can, 

A little rake and hoe; 

He made a garden in the yard, 

And planted seeds to grow. 


STREET CLEANING 


87 


Mary swept up all the dirt; 

And put it in a can; 

She put a cover on the top 

And called the Clean-Up Man.’' 

If all youngsters were as energetic as were Johnny and 
Mary, parents would be put to shame by their children 
and Philadelphia would be spick and span. William 
Penn was shorn of his dignity and represented as wielding 
a broom from his perch on City Hall tower. 

The results were good. Perhaps the best was the 
education of the public in cleanliness. The bureau had 
underestimated the amount of rubbish which would be 
discovered, and the wagons were busy all of the following 
week carrying it away. In some congested sections 
of the city the sidewalks were almost impassable for days 
with the piles of all sorts of cast-off things. It was a 
marvel how all of the rubbish had been concealed in the 
houses and the cellars. It was estimated that the fire 
risks of the city were greatly decreased and that health 
conditions were improved. Because of this success, 
Clean-Up Week” has been made an annual event. 


CHAPTER V 


Fire Fighting and Fire Prevention 

Dangers in the City.—The dangers of modern city life 
are not, for the most part, of the kind which we can ward 
off by our own strength. No man can with his arm stop 
the course of a charging motor truck, extinguish a fire 
which has seized upon a whole building, or arrest a gang 
of thieves. Many dangers are even further from his 
control than these. If his neighbor erects an unsafe 
building which is liable to fall and crush him, he is power¬ 
less to prevent it alone. His employer may compel him 
to work near machinery which is unprotected and likely 
to injure him. If Ke protests he may be discharged. 

To meet these modern dangers requires the cooperation 
of the whole community. It is to our government that 
we look to protect us. In fact, many people think little 
about the existence of government until danger threatens. 
The policeman and fireman are the symbols of govern¬ 
ment to their minds. 

When we are in our homes at night, the chief danger 
which we all dread is fire. The sound of a fire bell rouses 
us with a feeling of terror lest the fire be near us. Fires 
cause destruction of property, to say nothing of the loss 
of life, beyond all reason. The value of the property 
destroyed by fire in the United States every year is about 
three dollars for each man, woman, and child in the 
country. That this is much too large is shown by the 
fact that the loss in Europe is only thirty cents per 

( 88 ) 




FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 89 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 

THREE GENERATIONS OF FIRE-FIGHTING APPARATUS 




















90 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


person. There are two ways in which our city govern¬ 
ment meets this danger: by maintaining a fire-fighting 
force, and by trying to remove causes of fires. 

Fire-Fighting Apparatus and Fire Station.—^Everyone 
is more or less familiar with the fire engines and trucks, 
for they dash by us in the streets nearly every day. We 
must pay a visit to a fire station, however, to become 
really acquainted with them. In some stations we shall 
find the old-fashioned fire engine of brightly polished 
nickel. In the firebox a wood fire is already laid so that 
it can be started quickly in case of an alarm. Near the 
engine, in their stalls, are the splendid fire horses. They 
are trained to run at the first sound of an alarm and take 
their places in front of the engine, where the harness is 
suspended ready to buckle on them. The men, who may 
be asleep in their dormitory upstairs, arrive in a few 
seconds by sliding down brass poles connecting the 
upper with the lower floors. When the engine goes out 
it is accompanied by the combination wagon which carries 
the hose and chemical fire extinguishers. In the case 
of small fires the chemical extinguisher is often all that 
is needed. The hook and ladder truck responds to the 
alarm at the same time. The truck has a large ladder 
which is attached to it as a base and is raised from the 
horizontal to the perpendicular by turning a crank. It 
carries also portable ladders, ladders with hooks for 
climbing the outside of buildings, tools, first-aid kit, 
respirator, life net, and many other things. 

In the stations with the new equipment we shall find 
none of the beautiful horses, which used to be the pride 
of the firemen, but instead large red automobile engines. 
There are motor hook and ladder trucks, and also com- 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 91 


bination wagons. All of this motor apparatus is very 
costly, so that the city can install only a little at a time. 
When it is once secured, however, it is really less expensive 
than the old-fashioned kind, because it can do much 
more work. Philadelphia now has more than one-third 
of its apparatus motor driven and hopes to replace all 
the horses in the course of a few years. A list of the 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 
LATEST TYPE OF FIRE APPARATUS 


apparatus and of the stations will be found in the Manual 
of Council. 

The city has two “water towers,^’ one in Kensington 
and one at Twenty-first and Market Streets. These are 
used for fires in very high buildings, when the ordinary 
ladders and hose are not sufficient to reach to the burning 
floors. They consist of a steel arrangement like an 
enormous telescope mounted on an automobile truck. 
When it reaches the fire the tower is raised from a horizon¬ 
tal to a vertical position. The water rushes up through 
the tower and through a nozzle, which can be directed by 







92 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


a man below, so that it plays a stream of water directly 
into the upper stories of a building. If the fire is at a 
great height the tower can be extended like a telescope. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 
A WATER TOWER IN ACTION 


When we visit the fire station we may, if invited, go 
upstairs and inspect the dormitory, provided with rows of 
beds where the men sleep until an alarm is sounded. We 
shall also see the captain’s office and sleeping room and 
the recreation room where the men may amuse them¬ 
selves while they are waiting. A circulating library has 




FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 93 

been established so that they may employ their leisure 
time. Mr. Zueblin says that the job of a fireman 
composed of nine parts of idleness and one of heroism.'' 
At present, 1918, the men have one day off in six, and 
three hours every day for meals. It is proposed to 
introduce the ^Two platoon" system to comply with a 
state law requiring it. Under this plan each fireman 
spends only twelve hours out of the twenty-four on duty, 
and so has some chance for recreation and to see his 
family. 

If the job of the fireman is ^^nine parts idleness," the 
chance for the ^^one part heroism" comes to them all 
sooner or later. When you visit the fire station, if you 
can persuade one of the men to talk to you he is likely 
to tell of children rescued from the top stories of burning 
houses, or of invalids carried to safety down tottering 
ladders. And he remains sympathetic and does not 
become hardened by the horrors and the dangers that are 
a part of his almost daily experience. 

The Bureau of Fire.—The members of the force have 
various ranks and duties. Highest in rank is the Chief 
Engineer, who is under the Director of the Department 
of Public Safety. He is assisted directly by the Deputy 
Chief Engineer. Eleven battalion chiefs command the 
eleven districts into which the city is divided. These 
are the men who dash by in an automobile with a gong 
when an alarm of fire is given. They go to the scene 
of the fire to investigate and to take command. The fire¬ 
men are organized into companies, each company com¬ 
manded by a captain and a lieutenant and having charge 
of some piece of apparatus. These are known as engine 
companies, chemical engine companies, truck com- 


94 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


parties, and pipe line companies. There may be two or 
more companies in one fire station. The men are classi¬ 
fied according to their duties as steam engineers, firemen, 
drivers, tillermen, and hose and ladder men. The tiller- 
man sits on the rear of the hook and ladder truck and 
turns the wheel which steers the rear end of the truck. 

f 

The duties of the others are evident from their names. 

The first captain to arrive at a fire commands all the 
other companies until the battalion chief comes. The 
battalion chief in turn gives way to the Chief or Assistant 
Chief of the Bureau of Fire, both of whom attend in person 
every large fire. The officer in command at a fire has a 
very responsible position. He must see that each man, 
each piece of apparatus, and each line of hose is in the 
place to do most effective work. He must warn the men 
when a roof is about to cave in or a wall to fall upon them. 
The police, who keep a clear space and force the crowds 
back from the '^fire grounds/’ are subject to directions 
from him. 

It is the duty of every fireman to know the fire risks in 
the part of the city where his work lies. Each captain 
is required to inspect every building, except private 
dwellings, in his district at least once a year. The 
knowledge thus gained is of great service when one of 
these buildings is involved in a fire, and also aids in the 
enforcement of the fire prevention laws. 

The High-Pressure System.—In the regions where there 
are the greatest number of tall mills, stores, warehouses, 
and office buildings there are two special high-pressure” 
pumping stations. The high-pressure system covers the 
business portion of the city between Walnut and Race 
Streets, between Broad Street and the Delaware River, 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 95 


and also the mill section of the city lying, in general, 
between Allegheny Avenue, Girard Avenue, German¬ 
town Avenue, and Front Street. The station at Race 
Street and Delaware Avenue draws its water directlv 

V 

from the Delaware River, that at Seventh and Lehigh 
from the Fairhill reservoir. In case of emergency the 
force of both stations may be used for one fire by the 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 
HIGH-PRESSURE FIRE APPARATUS 


opening of connecting water mains. Their combined 
strength is equal to that of thirty large fire engines. 
Gas engines pump the water through special mains to 
special fireplugs. Hose attached to the high-pressure 
plugs can throw streams of water to a height of 250 feet. 
The hose used has a diameter of 33^ inches, one inch more 
than ordinary fire hose, and the stream from it is so 
powerful that it requires eight men to handle one line 
of hose in operation unless it is clamped to a pivot stand. 

In the high-pressure regions there are three special 
























96 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


fire companies for that service. They are equipped with 
extra large and heavy combination wagons carrying the 
large size hose. The pumping stations also have crews 
with emergency trucks, painted a dark green to distinguish 
them from the fire apparatus. These crews attend every 
fire to see that the water supply works properly and to 
repair any breaks which may occur because of the 



. „ {Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 

A FIRE BOAT 

extremely high pressure. Breaks are a serious matter, 
having been known to blow granite blocks from thirty to 
forty feet in the air. Inspections of the system are 
made weekly by the crews attached to the pumping 
stations. The pumping stations and the men connected 
with them are under the control of the Bureau of Water, 
not the Bureau of Fire. Philadelphia was the first city 
in the United States to install a high-pressure system, 
and it still has one of the best. 

Fire Boats.—For fires on the river front the city has 





FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 97 


one fire boat, the Edwin S. Stuart, stationed at the Race 
Street pier. It is equipped with engines which pump 
water directly from the river. The boat was built in 
1892 and is not adequate for present needs. There 
should be a greater number of these boats and of a more 
powerful type. Three little police boats, named after 
other mayors of Philadelphia, have small fire pumps 
which make them of some assistance. 

Fire School.—The men who enter the service of the 
Bureau of Fire for the first time have little knowledge of 
the methods of the expert fire fighter. To teach these 
recruits, a training school has been established. After 
the new man has passed the civil service examination, 
has been enrolled and given his uniform, he goes to 
school for thirty-five days. He enters a class where he 
is taught such things as the names and uses of all the 
apparatus, the quickest and most efficient way to use 
each, the duties of men in each kind of service, how to 
enter burning buildings under every possible set of 
circumstances, how to carry unconscious persons, how 
to administer first aid to the injured. 

Fire Alarms.—A visitor to a fire station is sure to notice 
the frequent ringing of a small electric bell called the 
joker.’’ Every time a company is called out and every 
time a company returns to its station the fact is indicated 
by the bell. The number of strokes tells just what com¬ 
pany is moving and whether it is coming or going. By 
this means each station knows what is happening all 
over the city. When there is a call for the company 
which belongs in the station house, a larger bell called 
^Hhe gong” is rung. It is necessary for all signals to be 
sent to all stations, because in case of a large fire the 



98 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


engine companies move into each other’s districts so as 
to protect the regions from which the engines have 
been withdrawn. Each station has one of its men 
always on the watch. He sits at the desk, listens to all 
the bells, answers the telephone, and keeps a journal of 
all that happens. 












(Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 

FIREMEN’S BAND 


It is well to know how to send in an alarm of fire. 
If we are near a telephone when we discover a fire, 
we should call the emergency number on the cover of 
the telephone directory or the Electrical Bureau. The 
operator will connect us with the fire headquarters 
so that we can give the location of the fire. If we are 
near one of the fire alarm boxes we may give the alarm 
there. These are iron boxes on posts on the sidewalk. 















FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 99 


There are two kinds, those without keys and those 
which have keys with glass fitted over them. The 
directions on the keyless box read: ^^Fire Alarm Station. 
To send in an alarm, turn the handle to the right as far 
as possible, open door, pull lever all the way down and 
let go.” Those on the boxes with keys read: '^To send 
in an alarm, break the glass, unlock the door by turning 
the key to the right, then pull the lever inside all the 
way down and let go.” We should be careful not to do 
it while the bell inside is ringing, for we would be inter¬ 
fering with another alarm. It is important to pull the 
lever all the way down and let go. We should stay near 
the box to direct the firemen to the fire when they come. 

A telephone call and an alarm from a fire box both go 
in to the Electrical Bureau in City Hall. There the opera¬ 
tors send the alarm to the proper station, and report on 
the little joker” bells in all the fire and police stations 
the number of the company which has been called out. 
The Electrical Bureau is one of the most important parts 
of the Department of Public Safety in protecting life 
and property. On a visit to City Hall it is well worth 
while to go to see the elaborate mechanism which is 
used for the fire alarm and telephone systems. Not 
only does this bureau send alarms of fire, but it manages 
the system of police telephones all over the city and the 
telephone connection of all the departments in City Hall, 
and inspects the electric lights on the streets. 

The first alarm calls a battalion chief and one company. 
When the chief arrives he opens the inside door of the 
nearest alarm box and sends a Morse code signal telling 
of his arrival. If he thinks that more help is needed he 
sends in a second alarm. He may call as many as six 


100 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


companies. In some localities, where the risks are 
great, the first alarm calls six engine companies, two 
trucks, three chiefs, and a high-pressure w^agon. 

Insurance Patrol.—We sometimes see a long red 
automobile truck filled with men dressed like firemen 
and having the words on its side ^Hnsurance Patrol.’^ 
There are three of these companies: one at Fifth and 
Arch Streets, one at Fifth and Hewson Streets, and one 
at 2122 Market Street. They do not belong to the 
Bureau of Fire but are provided by the insurance com¬ 
panies of the city. Often much property is damaged at 
a fire though it is not actually burned. The insurance 
companies have to pay the loss, so they send the patrol 
to the fire to help save property. 

The Cost of Fires.—^American cities have the costliest 
fire-fighting equipment of any in the world. This is 
made necessary by the carelessness of the American 
people in regard to fire risks. Mr. Zueblin says in his 
^^American Municipal Progress” (page 134): ^^The cost 
of fire protection each year is almost as great as the fire 
loss per_annum. It is estimated that the cash cost of 
conflagrations in the United States is $416 a minute, or 
$600,000 a day. That, however, refers only to property 
destroyed. We have to support unnecessarily expensive 
fire departments to protect our very defective property. 
To neutralize the shameless carelessness of citizens we 
have to increase enormously the service of our water 
departments and pay heavy insurance premiums. As a 
consequence of these fires, industry is interrupted, there 
is a grave loss of employment, and, worst of all, a destruc¬ 
tion of human life amounting to two thousand persons a 
year, while those incapacitated number six thousand. 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 101 


Apart from the waste of life, the mere pecuniary loss is 
nearly half a billion dollars a year. A federal report of 
1907 shows that this fire loss exceeded the total value of 
the gold, silver, copper, and petroleum produced in the 
United States for that year. It shows also that one- 
half the value of the new buildings constructed in one 
year goes up in smoke. 'The buildings consumed 
annually, if placed on lots of sixty-five foot frontage, 
would line both sides of a street extending from New 
York to Chicago.’ ” 

The annual report of the Department of Public Safety 
for 1916 gave the figures for that year in Philadelphia as 
follows: loss on buildings, S869,017; loss on contents of 
buildings, $1,715,173; and as a direct or indirect result 
of fire the loss of 186 lives. 

Fire Prevention Inspection. —^The Fire Marshal belongs 
to the Bureau of Police, and from his office in City Hall 
directs the work of fire prevention. If you visit him 
you will see upon the wall a large map of Philadelphia 
with many black pins, each one representing the loca¬ 
tion of a fire during the preceding year. The pins are 
very close together in the central part of the city, making 
clear the reason for the extra precautions taken there. 
Every morning in that office the four Assistant Fire 
Marshals assemble to consult and to receive their orders 
for the day. They have the city divided among them for 
the inspection of moving picture houses and places for 
the storage of gasoline, chemicals, and explosives. They 
follow up complaints made to the Fire Marshal and 
attend all fires to examine into the causes. When the 
number of firemen will permit it, the routine fire inspec¬ 
tions throughout the city are made by a force of firemen, 


102 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


one detailed from each district, officered by a captain, a 
lieutenant, and four street supervisors. The Fire Marshal 
instructs them in the laws for fire prevention, which must 
be obeyed by the owners and occupants of buildings, 
and furnishes them with blank forms on which they are 
to report the condition of the buildings they visit. 

There are great advantages in using firemen for inspec¬ 
tion service, because from their experience in fighting 
fires they know a great deal about fire hazards. It is 
also of direct benefit to the company of which each man 
is a member that he should know at first hand of the 
condition of the buildings in which they will have to fight 
fires. Expense is saved by using these men, who are 
already in the city’s employ. 

Among the things which the inspector looks for in 
visiting a building are the accumulation of oily rags, the 
placing of hot ashes in wooden receptacles, the use of 
swinging gas jets near walls, the piling of materials so as 
to block the way to the fire escape, the storing of inflam¬ 
mable materials, the protection of woodwork near furnaces 
and stoves, and the presence of water pails or fire extin¬ 
guishers in good condition. It is not possible to tell in 
this place all that one should know about fire risks. 
Every citizen should have a copy of the pamphlet on the 
fire laws issued by the Fire Marshal and should make 
himself familiar with them. It is every one’s duty to 
be a volunteer inspector and help remove the dangers 
which threaten us on every side. 

Unfortunately the Fire Marshal has not enough as¬ 
sistants to inspect private houses regularly. Fifty per 
cent of all fires occur in private houses, yet the public 
are not awake to the fact that it would be cheaper to 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 103 


pay for inspectors to prevent these fires than for firemen 
and engines to put them out and builders to replace them. 
Over fifty per cent of fires in private houses start in cellars 
or garrets as a result of careless housekeeping. In his 
report for 1915 the Fire Marshal stated that 2,000 fires 
during that year were due entirely to carelessness. Every 
person should know what the fire risks are in his own 
house and remove them so far as possible. He should 
see that the family has at least one chemical fire extin¬ 
guisher or a pail of water where it can be quickly reached. 
He should see that every one in the house knows just 
what to do in case of fire. Such simple precautions as 
closing the windows to cut off the draft, keeping close to 
the floor to avoid smoke, and covering the head with a 
damp cloth when passing through smoke-filled rooms, 
should be taught even to the little children. 

For the important business of seeing that the buildings 
of Philadelphia conform to the law in maintaining fire 
escapes, there are ten fire-escape inspectors who report 
to the Fire Marshal. They may order fire escapes, 
erected, fire pails, exits, and exit signs provided, and 
any other improvements required by law. 

The fire inspection of places of public assembly is very 
important, because special fire risks exist there and the 
lives of great numbers of people are endangered. The 
laws require that no theater or moving picture house 
may operate without a license from the Mayor, which is 
not granted until the Bureau of Fire and the Bureau of 
Building Inspection report that the place conforms to 
the fire-prevention and building laws. Among many 
other things the law states the required number and 
width of aisles, entrances, exits, staircases, and fire 


104 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


escapes in proportion to the number of people to be 
accommodated in the theater. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 


FACTORY FIEE-DRILL SUPERVISED BY FIRE MARSHAL’S INSPECTORS 

Exits must be marked with red lights and a sign 
“exit^^ in letters at least eight inches high: no seat may 
have more than six seats intervening between it and an 
aisle. The stage must be separated from the auditorium 
by a fireproof wall and an asbestos curtain. It must be 






FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 105 


provided with a skylight which opens of itself in case of 
fire, fireproof scenery, automatic sprinklers, water pipes 
with hose, fire alarm box, and chemical fire extinguishers. 

Moving picture theaters must in addition enclose the 
picture machine in a fireproof booth, because the reels 
of pictures are made of celluloid and are very inflamma¬ 
ble. The operator of the moving picture machine must 
have a license granted by the Mayor, and this is granted 
only after he has passed an examination given by the 
Fire Marshal and the Chief of the Electrical Bureau. 

In each theater the employees are organized into a 
fire company with a chief. These men are trained by a 
member of the Bureau of Fire detailed to the Fire Mar¬ 
shaks office, and their chief is required to make a daily 
report to the Fire Marshal of the condition of the theater 
and its fire appliances. They have frequent drills in 
which each person knows just what he is to do in case of 
fire. The theaters of the city are divided into seven 
districts for the theater patrol, and one inspector, a 
uniformed fireman, is assigned to each district. These 
men go on duty at noon and visit every theater in their 
districts during every performance. Brief daily reports 
are turned in to the Fire Marshal. Thorough inspections 
from attic to cellar are made at frequent intervals. 

Moving picture houses are visited regularly by the 
Assistant Fire Marshals. As a further safeguard the 
street sergeants of the police force throughout the city 
visit them twice during each performance and report any 
violation of the fire laws which they observe. 

It may seem as though all these precautions were 
unnecessary; but when such a terrible thing occurs as 
the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago in 1903, where six 


lOG 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


hundred people lost their lives, no amount of care to 
prevent such disasters seems too great. 

As a matter of ordinary precaution every person on 
visiting a hotel, theater, or moving picture house should 
note the location of exits and fire escapes. The greatest 
danger in a place of public assembly is not from the fire 
itself but from the panic caused by a cry of fire. If a 
person thinks of it in advance and has his plans made, 
there is less likelihood of his becoming excited and joining 
the rush. 

Philadelphia’s fire inspection system is of recent origin. 
Until 1911 the Fire Marshal’s duties were few and were 
performed in a perfunctory manner. Increased powers 
were given to the Fire Marshal by the State Legislature in 
that year, a new man was appointed to the office, and 
the system of inspection by uniformed firemen was started. 
The first group of inspectors found deplorable conditions. 
Fire escapes were often blocked with packing boxes, 
and on one building were so decayed that they would 
have fallen with the weight of ten or twelve people. In 
one place the doors to the fire towers had been locked so 
long that the locks were rusted and would not open. 
A factory with three hundred occupants had one usable 
exit, the others were all locked. In a place of public 
assembly the cellar was found to contain eight cartloads 
of inflammable rubbish. At the end of eleven months 
of the new system the Fire Marshal reported 108,460 
faulty conditions remedied. 

Several years have passed since then and people have 
forgotten about the dangers which were discovered. 
It is difficult to get the city to provide enough inspectors 
or to enforce the prosecution of people who break the 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 107 


law. Philadelphia is full of fire dangers and it is a wonder 
we do not have one hundred per cent more fires than 
actually occur. 

Building Inspection.—If we could have all the old 
buildings torn down and new ones built in their places, 



TYPE OF FIRE APPARATUS NOW DISPLACED 

there would be much less work for the firemen to do. 
Laws governing the erection of new buildings are growing 
more strict all the time. It has been many years since 
any wooden building might be constructed in the built-up 
portions of the city. From time to time the areas in which 
frame buildings may be erected are still further limited. 
Recently only the Thirty-fifth Ward and portions of 
the Twenty-first, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, Forty-first, and 







108 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Forty-second were still open to frame buildings. These 
regions are sparsely settled and contain many farms. 
Special exceptions are made for temporary one-story 
buildings and for Woodside and Point Breeze Parks. 
The law requires that when any old wooden building 
becomes so dilapidated that it is reduced to less than 
fifty per cent of its original value, it must be torn down. 

New large office, school, hotel, apartment house, theater, 
hospital, store, or factory buildings must now be con¬ 
structed of fireproof materials. The most modern are 
built of concrete and steel. A little wood is used in win¬ 
dow frames and doors, but very little. The floors are of 
concrete or stone or of wood laid on a bed of concrete. 
The staircases, partitions, and elevators are of metal, 
concrete, and glass. Such buildings are designated in 
the law as of the “first class,or fireproof construction. 
In a fireproof building the danger from fire is not removed 
as the name would seem to indicate, but it is much 
decreased. A recent fire in one of the upper stories of 
the North American Building burned the furniture in 
one or two suites of offices, but because the walls were 
fireproof was easily prevented from spreading. 

Fire walls, dividing the building into sections, are 
required by law in warehouses, stores, and factories of the 
first class. No such wall may have more than three 
openings on each floor and each one must be provide 
with double doors which close by their own weight in case 
of fire. Such walls are especially desirable in department 
stores or factories where great numbers of people are 
gathered. If a fire breaks out, the people may move 
easily and quickly through the fire wall into the next 
section; then the doors close and they are safe, so that 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 109 


they may take their time in moving to the street by 
staircases. In such a building there are so many people 
that it is difficult to empty the building quickly by fire 
escapes or fire towers. 

Smaller buildings, of six stories or less, are not subject 
to such rigid requirements, and may have wooden beams, 
doors, and interior finishing used in their construction. 
The}" belong to the second class.” Dwellings are per¬ 
mitted to be of lighter material still, and belong to the 
^Third class.” 

It would be tiresome to go farther into the details of 
the building laws, which fill a small volume and deal with 
every part of construction. They regulate the strength 
of the walls in proportion to the height, fire escapes and 
fire towers, the strength of floors and walls to support 
heavy tanks and machinery, yard space for dwelling 
houses, window space for tenement houses, and a thou¬ 
sand other things. The section of the law relating to 
the building of theaters occupies seventeen pages. 

To enforce the building laws, there is a Bureau of 
Building Inspection in the Department of Public Safety. 
No one is permitted to erect any structure or to make 
any alterations in an old building without a permit from 
this bureau. The inspectors of the bureau go over the 
plans before a permit is issued, and visit the place while 
the work is going on to see that the law is being obeyed. 
If a building is damaged by fire or accident the inspectors 
visit it, and if it is unsafe require it to be removed or 
repaired. They decide what type of fire escapes shall be 
required on old and new buildings and superintend their 
erection. The safety of theaters and other places of 
public assembly depends quite as much on the building 


110 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

inspectors as on the fire-prevention inspectors, for it is 
the duty of the former to see that the safety laws are 
carried out. 

New Methods of Protection.—The city bureaus have 
been aided a great deal in their efforts for fire prevention 
by the insurance companies. The rates which they 
charge for fire insurance are less in proportion to the 
means of protection which the building possesses. 
Modern store, office, and factory buildings have quite 
generally adopted the automatic sprinkler systems. 
These consist of pipes running across the ceilings at 
frequent intervals and connected with a tank full of water 
near the roof. The pipes have small cocks a few feet 
apart, closed with a stopper of very soft metal. When 
some of the stock takes fire, the heat soon melts the 
stoppers and water is released from the pipes directly 
over the fire. This usually stops it before the fire engines 
arrive. Many new buildings also have standpipes 
connected with the city water mains, running up to the 
highest floors and provided with fire hose and nozzles 
on each floor. These standpipes and sprinkler systems 
have hose connections on the outside of the building, so 
that if the fire continues the fire engines may be attached 
to the system within the building and pump water 
through all the pipes. The Curtis Publishing Company 
has in its new printing house what is called an apron of 
water.” Perforated pipes along the edge of the roof can 
release a sheet of water like a waterfall, which will protect 
the structure on the outside in case there should be a fire 
next door. This scheme is also provided over the stage 
of some theaters. 

The Sane Fourth.—For many years the Bureau of 


FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 111 


Fire looked forward with dread to the Fourth of July, as 
did also the city hospitals. Good Americans, especially 
boys, thought that their patriotism was not sufficiently 
expressed unless they made a great deal of noise in a way 
that was likely to do harm to themselves and to the 
surrounding property. 

The damage is shown by the following figures from the 
Fire Marshal: 

Deaths and injuries in the City of Philadelphia from the Fourth of July 


celebrations in a period of five years: 

Year Deaths Injured 

1913 . 3 340 

1914 . 4 237 

1915 . 0 280 

1916 . 0 230 

1917 . 0 76 

The number of fires, with the loss during the same period, is as follows: 
Year No. of Fires Loss 

1913 . 40 $5,021 

1914 . 29 2,128 

1915 . 27 4,306 

1916 . 65 3,900 

1917 . 17 894 

Recently there has been a strong movement for a ‘‘Safe 
and Sane Fourth.’’ Picnics, parades, speechmaking, 


pageants, and community celebrations have been organ¬ 
ized to honor the day more fitly. Laws have been passed 
limiting the use of firecrackers, toy pistols, and fireworks, 
and prohibiting the use of toy balloons. It is hoped that 
all young citizens, especially these who study civics, 
will help to make the day one of real patriotic celebration. 

Responsibility of the Citizen.—Perhaps it would seem 
that so much is done by the city bureaus that we should 













112 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Fire) 


FIRE IN WINTER 













FIRE FIGHTING AND PREVENTION 113 


not worry about the dangers from fire. The trouble is 
that even all these efforts will not prevent great loss by 
fire. Why is it? It is because the people themselves are 
so careless. There are still many who will throw a match 
or a cigarette on the floor, kindle the Idtchen fire with 
kerosene, let the window curtain blow into the gas jet, 
allow rubbish to collect in the cellar, put hot ashes into 
a wooden barrel, and do many other foolish things. 
Some business men will run all kinds of risks to the lives 
of employees and customers rather than rebuild their 
stores or factories according to the requirements of 
safety, and try to deceive the inspectors or use political 
influence to escape punishment. Then again the laws 
are not sufficiently strict, because public opinion is not 
awake to the need, and people do not like to be bothered 
with more restrictions. Every citizen should know the 
facts, should study the way to prevent fires on his own 
premises, should help to spread the habit of carefulness 
among his friends. Only by such care can the United 
States be rid of the fearful waste of half a billion dollars 
and two thousand lives every year. To remind every 
one of this duty the National Fire Prevention Association 
has asked that October 9th, the anniversary of the 
terrible Chicago fire of 1871, shall be observed every¬ 
where as '‘Fire Prevention Day/’ 



CHAPTER VI 


Police* Accidents, Weights and Measures 

The Patrolman and His Duties.—The little army of 
more than 3,000 men which guards our 129j^ square miles 
of territory has many and varied duties to perform. 
The popular notion is that the policeman’s, or ^^patrol¬ 
man’s,” chief duty is to arrest offenders, but his work is 
largely in the line of preventing trouble and danger. 
He assists in protecting our life and property by aiding 
firemen at fires, by reporting nuisances to the Department 
of Health, by reporting defects in the pavements to the 
Bureau of Highways, by reporting to the Bureau of 
Building Inspection any alterations in buildings being 
made without a license; in short, by noting anything 
that is dangerous or out of order in cooperation wdth the 
other parts of the city government. Not the least of his 
duties is that of acting as general bureau of information to 
travelers on the streets. For all this work he carries 
about with him a note book with blank forms on which to 
report the things he sees out of order. 

The new men are appointed according to the require¬ 
ments of the Civil Service Commission. They must 
pass both a physical and a written examination to show 
their fitness for the work. No person who is not a citizen 
of the United States, who cannot read or write the 
English language, and who has not resided in the state 
at least one year preceding his appointment, is eligible 
for appointment as a member of the police force. 

( 114 ) 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


115 


Police School.—When a man has been sworn in and 
enrolled he must report first to the school of instruction 
for special training in the duties of his position. There 
may be seen forty or more men at a time in one class for 
a period of four weeks. The police captain in charge of 
inspection, drill, and instruction supervises the school. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 

POLICE SCHOOL 

Policemen are learning the traffic regulations. 


assisted by instructors and special lecturers, and the new 
men are given a thorough course in their duties. Among 
the subjects taught are the rules and regulations of the 
bureau, general and special duties of patrolmen, writing 
of reports, laws and ordinances, geography of the city, 
securing and preparing evidence to present in court, and 
first aid to the injured. Lectures are given by specialists 
on such subjects as the methods of counterfeiters, pre- 









116 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


V6ntion of cm city to aninials, rGSUScits^tion of drowning 
persons, and the handling of prisoners. 

After finishing the course of the school the new man 
enters regularly upon the patrol of his beat, but continues 
always to have military and physical drill under the 
drill-master. This continuation course includes military 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 


EAIERGENCY TREATMENT FOR DROWNING PERSONS 
Policemen must learn the best method of treatment for accidents. 

drill, discipline and courtesy, horsemanship, target 
practice, wrestling, boxing, running, and swimming. 
Even when a man attains the rank of sergeant or lieu¬ 
tenant he continues to drill in order to learn how to com¬ 
mand his men. Every October there is a Police Carnival, 
when the police display their skill in drill and athletics. 

At his station house the new man finds himself assigned 
to a platoon in charge of a street sergeant, and with his 










POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


117 


platoon he goes out upon the street for a period of eight 
hours. The sergeant makes the round of his district to 
see that each man performs the duties of his beat properly. 
Each officer must report to his station every hour, through 
the telephones in the police patrol boxes. 

In 1912 the three-platoon system was adopted to shorten 
the working day for the police. Formerly the hours of 
service were irregular and might vary from thirteen 



{Courtesy of the Department of Public Safety) 
POLICEMEN TAKING GYIMNASIUM EXERCISES 

to even twenty-four hours in time of an emergency. Now 
only eight hours are required. The platoons change at 
8 A. M. and 4 p. m. and 12 midnight. Occasionally a man 
is required to give extra hours in order that a few men 
may be kept at the station in reserve to meet a sudden 
emergency such as fire or riot. 

The Police Station.—Each of the forty police districts 
into which the city is divided has one or two police 
stations. In recent years the city has been erecting fine 
modern buildings in various sections of the city. Let us 








I 


118 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

take one of these as the type of place where the patrol¬ 
man reports for duty and spends part of his time. In 
charge of the station is a lieutenant who is responsible for 
the maintenance of the public peace, enforcement of the 
law, control of the force in his district, the good order of 
the station house, and the custody of prisoners until 
they are discharged, bailed, or committed to prison. 
He must make daily reports of occurrences in his district 
to his captain. Two house sergeants assist the lieutenant, 
one ofjthem being alw’ays on duty at the police telephone, 
receiving reports from the men and orders from head¬ 
quarters. The patrolmen of this house are divided into 
three platoons of fifteen men each. In charge of a platoon 
is its street sergeant. Several men are detailed for work 
as drivers and caretakers. In this particular house the 
first floor contains the lieutenant’s office and bedroom, 
the sergeants’ offices and bedrooms, magistrate’s court, 
witness room, recreation room for men, two cells for 
female prisoners and four for male prisoners. On the 
second floor there are two large dormitories for the men, 
a locker room, and a lavatory. On the third floor we 
find the ofiice and quarters of the captain of one of the 
five police divisions of the city, and the storerooms. 
The basement houses a gymnasium, a shooting gallery, a 
shuffleboard, a dynamo for the generation of electricity 
for the patrol boxes, a carpenter shop, and a pool room. 
Many stations also contain accommodations for the 
patrol wagon and horses. 

In case of a breach of the peace or other violation of 
law, the patrolman must take the offender to the station 
house. Should there be resistance or a large number 
of offenders, he may call from the nearest police telephone 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


119 


to the station for the patrol wagon. In response to the 
call the patrol sergeant conies with the wagon, driver, 
patrol officer, and additional officers if needed. On 
arrival at the station the prisoner is taken before the 
police magistrate, and if there is not one at the station 
then he is taken to the nearest magistrate’s office. The 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 
DIRECTING TRAFFIC WITH THE SEMAPHORE 


magistrate hears the charge against him and either 
releases him, holds him for court, or releases him on bail. 
Cells in the station house are used only for the temporary 
care of prisoners while their cases are under consideration. 

Mounted Police and Traffic Squad. —Besides the 
regular patrolmen with their officers, the Bureau of 
Police includes marine police. City Hall guards, detectives, 
the Fire Marshal with his assistants, the maintenance 






120 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


force, and the traffic squad—mounted, foot, and motor. 
There is a close relation of each one of these parts of 
the force to the others. 

There were in 1918 three hundred and ten mounted 
patrolmen distributed throughout the districts. Most 
of them are assigned to beats in the suburban areas, 
where a large territory must be covered by one man. 
One hundred and eight mounted men belong to the 

traffic squad, whose duty 
it is to regulate the heavy 
traffic on the crowded 
business streets in the 
center of the city. 
Sixty-two officers, in¬ 
cluding two sergeants, 
compose the motorcycle 
squad. They patrol the 
streets most used by 
automobiles and bicycles, 
to enforce the speed regu¬ 
lations. Their high¬ 
speed machines make them also valuable for call in any 
sudden emergency. Two hundred and twenty-five foot 
patrolmen belonging to the traffic squad for the center of 
the city have headquarters at City Hall. 

By day the foot patrolmen of the traffic squad are 
employed in regulating traffic in the center of the city. 
Most of them are over six feet in height and add much to 
the dignity as well as to the safety of the city streets. 
The traffic squad, both mounted and foot, carry out the 
traffic regulations issued by the Director of Public Safety. 
Drivers must know in which direction they are allowed 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 
SAFETY FIRST FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN 






POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


121 


to go, and the traffic policeman with his whistle or 
semaphore checks and starts again the moving streams 
where two streets cross. Iron posts with cords are used 
to mark off the path which must be followed by the cars 
and to provide safety zones’^ for pedestrians. Phila¬ 
delphia was the first to use these devices. New York 
City has since copied the system and carried it out on a 
more elaborate scale. The most recent edition of the 
traffic rules may be secured from the Bureau of Police 
in City Hall. 

Harbor Police.—The wharves and docks of the Schuyl¬ 
kill and Delaware River fronts are often scenes of law¬ 
lessness and of accidents, so it has been found necessary 
to maintain boats and officers to patrol the rivers. There 
are at present four police tugs and four fast motor 
launches in the city service. Each tug has two pilots, 
two engineers, and twelve policemen. The launches 
carry three men. The harbor police guard wharves, 
landings, and vessels in the river; rescue persons from 
drowning; search for bodies of drowned persons; and 
assist the firemen in fighting fires on the docks and 
among the ships. The police tugs are equipped with fire¬ 
fighting apparatus to assist the firemen by throwing 
streams of water from the river. 

City Hall Guards.—There are about seventy City 
Hall guards, with two lieutenants, who patrol the corridors 
and courtyard of the building. They are divided for day 
and night service. 

Detectives.—The detectives are a special force of 
twenty-nine picked men under the captain of detectives. 
It is their duty to search for criminals when the ordinary 
police have been unable to locate them, to search for 


122 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


evidence of crime, to locate stolen property, to watch 
and intercept professional criminals, and keep a complete 
identification record of criminals. Exact measurements 
are taken of a prisoner according to the Bertillon system. 
The official photographer takes his picture in both full 
and side face. He is made to record his finger prints. 
Finger prints, measurements, and photographs are filed 
according to an exact system, so that if the man appears 
again, even after the lapse of many years and under 
another name, he can be identified at once. A standard 
form of record is used by most cities, and a method of 
exchange is in operation so that old offenders may be rec¬ 
ognized when they appear in a new city. The office of the 
detective force has telephone connection with all the 
pawnshops in the city, so that stolen property may be 
traced as soon as it is reported to the police. Pawn¬ 
brokers are required to send in a daily report of all 
articles received. 

Maintenance Force. —^Besides the regular police, the 
Bureau of Police contains those men who are assigned 
to other than police duties and who, nevertheless, are of 
great importance to the bureau. The record division, 
with a chief clerk and office force, keeps the books and 
records of receipts and disbursements in the central 
office and in all the station houses. The police telephone 
exchange, which connects all the police stations, requires 
the services of eight or ten men. The drill-master has 
charge of the instruction and drill of the men. The super¬ 
intendent of stables, with a corps of drivers and hostlers, 
has the care of the horses. The chief surgeon gives the 
men their medical examination and supervises the 
district surgeons. The chief surgeon must attend all 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


123 


large fires, parades, and other public affairs and arrange 
for medical service and relief. The district police 
surgeon may be called upon to care for the sick and 
injured brought to the police 
station and attends fires in his 
district. He is not paid by 
salary but according to services 
rendered. 

Organization of the Bureau of 
Police.—The rank in the bureau 
has been indicated in the account 
of the duties of the various mem¬ 
bers. Beginning at the bottom, 
we have the patrolmen organized 
into platoons under the com¬ 
mand of a street sergeant, while 
the station house is under the 
house sergeant. The whole dis¬ 
trict is commanded by a lieu¬ 
tenant. The forty-two districts 
are organized into five divisions 
each under a captain, who has 
his headquarters in one of the 
police stations of his division. 

A sixth division is made up of 
the traffic police, harbor police, 
training school, and stables. 

All of the divisions are com¬ 
manded by the Superintendent of Police, the head of 
the bureau, who has his office in City Hall. He in turn 
is subordinate to the Director of the Department of 
Public Safety. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Policy 
A POLICE CAPTAIN 







124 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


No policeman may be dismissed except upon charges 
of improper conduct or for old age or disability. Under 
the Bullitt Act charges against policemen were heard by 
police trial boards. The new charter provides that 
policemen and firemen shall be tried by the Civil Service 
Commission. 

Unobserving people sometimes do not distinguish the 
uniform of a policeman from that of a fireman. Both 
wear blue, but the fireman’s buttons and emblems are 
of nickel (except in the case of the chiefs), while the 
policeman’s buttons and emblems are brass and his 
badge is nickel. The fireman wears a Maltese cross on the 
front of his cap, the policeman wears the arms of the city. 
The policeman has a shield-shaped badge containing the 
seal of the city on his breast, the fireman has not. It 
would not be worth while to describe all the differences 
in the dress of the various ranks of the police, for they are 
liable to change. The service emblems which the men 
wear on their cuffs are a gold leaf for twenty years of 
service, a gold diamond-shaped pin for fifteen years, a 
silver diamond for ten years, and a bronze diamond for 
five years. 

Police Signals. —There are police telephones, at fre¬ 
quent intervals on the streets, in iron boxes much resem¬ 
bling the fire-alarm boxes. The patrolman on the beat 
is required to report to his station house from one of these 
at intervals of an hour. In case he needs help or advice 
he may call up at any time. The house sergeant has no 
way of reaching him unless he does call up, and if a call 
for help comes over the public telephone to the station 
house, must send reserve officers. New York and Boston 
are using a new system of signaling by lights, which may 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


125 


missioners. The park 
guards too are a separate 
organization under the 
Commissioners and not 
responsible to the Direc¬ 
tor of Public Safety. 

The control of the Park Guards extends through the 
Parkway even into the center of the city. 

The National Guard, Constabulary, Army and Navy.— 
There have been times in the history of Philadelphia 
when the police force was not strong enough or numerous 
enough to preserve order in the city. Many people can 
remember the terrible times of the trolley strike in 1910, 
when the cars which operated in defiance of the strikers 



be introduced here. In New York there are high iron 
posts at prominent places along the streets, bearing green 
lights. When a policeman is needed all the lights along 
his beat are flashed from the station house. As soon as 
he sees them he hurries to the nearest telephone and 
gets his directions. In Boston red lights along the 
Charles River are used 
to call the police of the 
river front. 

Park Guards. —The 

motor patrol boat Res- 
cue, which goes up and 
down the Schuylkill 
River in Fairmount Park 
to look after the safety 
of the pleasure seekers 
on the river, is under the 
control of the Park Com¬ 


{Courtesy of the Department of Public Safety) 
OUR STREET CORNER FRIENDS 

Mail boxes, fire alarm, and police telegraph 
stations. 







126 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


were stoned by mobs and many passengers and employees 
were injured. When the police proved unable to stop 
the violence, the organized militia of Pennsylvania 
was called in. This consisted of the regiments of the 
National Guard which trained in the armories, and which 
went to the Mexican border and finally to France. As 
the strike continued and became more violent, the 
Governor was asked to send the State Police, the Con¬ 
stabulary. This is a comparatively small body, five 
hundred men, but picked men with good training and 
experience, which has for its duty the preservation of 
order in the less closely settled regions of the state, 
chiefly in the mining region. They are at the call of 
any part of the state which is in need of special protection. 
They have the reputation of being the best trained and 
ablest body of state police in the United States. New 
York recently adopted the same system. In the case of 
the Philadelphia trolley strike they helped to restore 
order. When the National Guard was sent to France for 
war service, the Home Defense Reserve was created to 
take its place in maintaining order. We have therefore 
two bodies of defenders besides the city police force in 
time of need. Indeed, should the occasion warrant it, 
the army and navy of the United States may be called 
upon to protect Philadelphia. 

The Prevention of Accidents.—The newspapers every 
day are filled with accounts of accidents. Many of 
these are directly due to the carelessness of the persons 
injured, but we look to the officers of our government to 
ward off as many as possible of the dangers which threaten 
both the wise and foolish. The report of the Bureau of 
Police for the year 1916 gives the total number of acci- 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


127 


dents reported by the police as 12,358. There were 
probably many more not reported. Of these accidents 
797 were fatal. The accidents are classified into sixteen 
groups according to causes, and of these the most 
numerous in order of number were falls, automobiles, 
trolley cars, teams, falling objects, burns, asphyxiation. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 


POLICEMAN RENDERING FIRST AID 

machinery, shooting, motor cycles, bicycles, and defects 
in the highway. 

1. Street Accidents. In describing the work of the 
Bureau of Fire and the Fire Marshal we have seen how 
the community is striving to decrease injury and loss 
of life from fires. The police are depended upon to 
prevent accidents upon the streets, since it is their 
business to enforce the various laws for safety. These 




















128 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


laws are passed by the State Legislature and by City 
Councils, but often leave the way open for detailed rules 
to be made by the Director of the Department of Public 
Safety. An example of this is given by the traffic rules, 
which are issued by the department under an authoriza¬ 
tion by the Legislature and Councils. The work of the 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Police) 
POLICEMAN KEEPING BACK A CROWD 


police in enforcing those rules has been described. 
According to law, automobiles and motor cycles may not 
be driven by a person who has not an official license, nor 
by any person less than sixteen years of age. This is 
intended as a safeguard against reckless driving by 
incompetent people. In some other states, for instance 
in Massachusetts, the applicant for a license must first 
demonstrate his ability to run a car. In Pennsylvania 




POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


129 


paid drivers must be at least eighteen years of age, and 
must have had five days’ experience with a teacher. An 
examination of his ability need not be made, however, 
unless the State Highway Commissioner so orders. The 
law also provides regulations concerning lights, horns and 
speed of automobiles. 

It is the duty of the police also to see that people are 
not endangered by falling objects. The heavy signs 
hanging above stores are a source of this kind of danger. 
An ordinance of Councils regulates the size and position 
of the signs and the security of their fastenings. The 
policeman must report any violation of the law. He must 
also see that the sidewalk is roped off where there" is any 
danger from building operations or repairs. As we have 
seen (Chapter V), the Bureau of Building Inspection 
must approve the plans for any new building or for any 
alteration to an old one so that the safety of the public 
may be secured. 

The number of deaths from asphyxiation, either by 
illuminating gas or by smoke at a fire, has been decreasing 
slightly in recent years. This may be due to the use of 
the pulmotor. A large number of these have recently 
been added to the equipment of the fire and police stations. 
A pulmotor is a machine for inducing artificial respiration, 
forcing the lungs to act and throw off the poisonous gases. 
Every policeman and fireman is trained to use it. 

Defects in the highways so serious as to be a cause of 
accidents have given rise to severe criticism of the city’s 
policy of furnishing the Bureau of Highways with an 
inadequate force of inspectors, and not permitting the 
bureau to do its own repair work. 

2. Industrial Accidents, Accidents occurring to work- 


9 


130 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


men from machinery or other dangers of their trades 
are alarmingly frequent. Eecords of the Pennsylvania 
Department of Labor and Industry for the first seven 
months of 1917 showed that 1,877 workers were killed 
and 139,598 injured during that brief time. The state 
government has taken upon itself the protection of the 
workers and has passed many factory laws. To enforce 
these laws the Department of Labor and Industry at 
Harrisburg has a corps of inspectors who visit industrial 
plants all over the state. Every worker, especially, 
should know what laws are intended to protect him so 
that he may know when his employer is disobeying the 
law. A further discussion of the subject will be found 
in Chapter XII. 

A strong incentive to the employers to obey these 
safety laws was added by the passage of the Workmen’s 
Compensation Law in 1915. This law provides a definite 
compensation for injuries to employees to be paid by 
the employer, instead of the old method by which the 
employee had to recover damages by a lawsuit. (See 
Chapter XII.) 

3. Accidents in Transportation. Accidents from trolley 
cars, while still very numerous, show a marked tendency 
to decrease in recent years. The improvement is largely 
due to the efforts of the traction company to educate 
the public to be careful and to their introduction of the 
nearside” cars. The subject of trolley accidents and of 
the state Public Service Commission and how it protects 
the public by regulating the street railway companies are 
explained in Chapter XI. 

Philadelphia used to have a large number of accidents 
due to grade crossings. That was because of the old 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


131 


custom of letting the steam railroads cross the streets 
on the same level, with only a gate to keep the street 
traffic from passing when there was a steam train on the 
tracks. In the years gone by there was a constant 
agitation in the newspapers to have this danger removed. 
Fortunately the city government, through agreements 
with the railroad companies by which the city paid a 
part of the expense, has succeeded in having nearly all 
of the grade crossings 
removed. (See Chapter 
XI.) 

Bureaus of Elevator 
Inspection and Boiler 
Inspection.—The Bureau 
of Elevator Inspection, 
as its name indicates, is 
concerned with the ex¬ 
amination of elevators all 
over the city. Each ele¬ 
vator contains a framed 
license card stating that 
the elevator has been found in good condition, that it is 
licensed to carry a certain number of passengers or a cer¬ 
tain amount of freight, and the date when the license 
expires. Operators of passenger elevators must be 
licensed by a board of examiners consisting of the chiefs 
of the Electrical Bureau, Bureau of Building Inspection, 
and Bureau of Boiler Inspection. If we visit the engine 
room of a school or of any other large building we shall 
find a similar framed card stating that the steam boiler 
has been inspected, that it is licensed by the Bureau of 
Boiler Inspection, and for how long. 









132 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Street Lighting.—In European cities the number of 
accidents at night were greatly increased during the great 
war by the government regulations forbidding the use 
of lights because of the dangers from Zeppelin and airplane 
raids. We cannot imagine here in America how a great 
city could go about its evening business and pleasure 
without lights. We are accustomed to avoid the streets 
which are even dimly lighted and to frequent the brighter 
streets for both comfort and safety. Great improve¬ 
ments have been made in recent years in the lighting of 
the city streets, as will be told in the next chapter. Not 
only do brightly lighted streets have a minimum of 
accidents, but they are also the greatest aid to the police 
in protecting our lives and property from the evildoers 
who ^Tove darkness rather than light.’’ 

Department of Weights and Measures.—There is a 
special class of evildoers bent upon depriving us of our 
property which has another part of the city government 
to attend to it—the Department of Weights and Meas¬ 
ures. When the department was started in 1913, the 
inspectors went all over the city examining the weights 
and measures used in stores and markets. The results 
were so astonishing that they held an exhibition, in the 
pavilion in City Hall courtyard, of the false weights and 
measures which they had confiscated. There were peck 
measures with false bottoms in them to decrease the 
size, scales which were weighted on one side so as to 
weigh more than they should, pint milk bottles which 
held much less than a pint, and many others. It is 
well to have one’s own scales and measures to test the 
quantities of things bought, and anyone may take them 
to the office of the Department in the Parkway Building 


POLICE, ACCIDENTS, WEIGHTS 


m 

and have them tested. However, one can always ask the 
dealer to show the stamp of the Department of Weights 
and Measures on those which he uses to be sure that they 
have been approved. The law requires that all measures 
must be so marked. Even the milk bottles must have a 
statement of the exact contents blown into the glass^ 
where anyone may see it. Standards of measurement 
for the whole of the United States are kept by a Bureau 
of Standards of the Commerce Department at Washing¬ 
ton, where all local viewers of weights and measures,” as 
ours are called, may verify the standards which they use. 

The inspectors of weights and measures are not under 
the Department of Public Safety, -where they would seem 
to belong. The law of 1913 made them a department of 
the county of Philadelphia under the City Commissioners, 
thus increasing the confusion already existing because of 
our curious double government. 

The Courts.—All of the means for the protection of 
life and property which have been* described are estab¬ 
lished by the laws of the city, the state, or the nation. 
The police, the fire marshal, the elevator inspectors, and 
all the other officers are engaged in enforcing these laws. 
What happens to the person who refuses to obey the speed 
regulations, to maintain a safe elevator, or to install fire 
escapes? He is arrested and taken to court, where his 
case is tried, and if he is found guilty of breaking the law 
he is sentenced to pay a fine or to be imprisoned as the 
case may require. The final power of any of these officers 
to enforce the law depends then upon the courts. If the 
courts do not condemn the offender, the officer of the law 
is powerless. So important is this last resort for our pro¬ 
tection that a whole chapter (XIV) has been devoted to it. 


CHAPTER VH 


The Lighting of the City 

The Beginning of Street Lighting.—The lighting of the 
streets of Philadelphia by the city government, like so 
many other good things in our city, seems to have had 
its origin in the clever and active brain of wise Benjamin 
Franklin. It appears to have been largely owing to his 
efforts that the city passed an ordinance in 1751 ^Tor 
establishing a night watch and for enlightening the city.’’ 
Oil lamps were placed at regular intervals. Thus we see 
that it was realized then as now that lighting of streets 
was a quiet and certain ally to the police in securing the 
safety of the city by night. 

By 1802 it was urged that the streets would be safer 
for night travel if they were lighted by gas, which was 
then beginning to be used in some European cities as an 
illuminant. There was violent opposition from many 
citizens to this new method of lighting, and for more 
than a generation fear of it was so strong that no improve¬ 
ment in lighting was made. In 1835, after an investiga¬ 
tion of methods used in European cities. Councils passed 
an ordinance for the construction and management of 
the Philadelphia gas works. 

The Gas Trust.—In 1836 these works were completed 
and the public streets began to be lighted by gas. The 
capital to construct the works was raised by private sub¬ 
scription, but the ordinance provided that the city might 
at any time arrange to pay back the money and become 

( 134 ) 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


135 


the owner of the works. Select and Common Councils 
were each to elect six members of a board of twelve 
trustees to construct and manage the works and to make 
annual reports to Councils. In 1841 the city took over 
the gas works, but the trustee system was continued. 
So Philadelphia became one of the first of American 
cities to practice municipal ownership of a public utility. 
By this we mean that the city itself owned and operated a 
service which was useful to all the people. 

The experiment was not successful. For many years 
the gas was of a very poor quality and was uncertain 
in its delivery. At the time in the evening when most 
gas was needed the pressure was so weak that some 
houses could not get light at all. This was due to the 
small size of the pipes, which were not large enough to 
carry the volume of gas needed. For the poor gas and 
poor service the people paid a very high price. As late 
as 1887 they paid $1.40 for a thousand cubic feet, and 
this was in spite of the fact that the expense of manu¬ 
facturing had been much decreased in all cities by the 
use of new inventions. Too many men were employed. 
Money which was paid for gas was not used to provide 
larger and better pipes or to renew machinery when it 
grew old, but was diverted to other purposes. What 
was called by-products of the making of gas—that is, 
the left-overs, such as coke, tar, and ammonia—were not 
sold profitably and the money saved for the improve¬ 
ment of the service, but were allowed to go to favorites 
for small prices. All of this bad management was the 
fault of the people of Philadelphia, of course, because 
they did not keep charge of their own government and 
see that things were done properly. In 1885 the people 


136 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


did wake up, under the leadership of a group of men 
called the Committee of One Hundred/’ and secured 
the passage by the Legislature of a new city charter 
called ^‘the Bullitt Act.” By this charter the gasworks 
were placed under the management of the Department 
of Public Works, and a city ordinance was then passed 
creating a Bureau of Gas to take charge of the business. 

The Bureau of Gas —Under the new arrangement 
extensive im.provements were made immediately. The 
amount of gas produced in a day was increased, the 
quality of the light was much improved, and the cost 
was reduced to eighty-nine cents per thousand cubic feet. 
Over 800 unnecessary employees were discharged. But 
after the first burst of reform, things became gradually 
almost as bad as under the gas trustees. The same evils 
as those mentioned above appeared again. 

Lease to the United Gas Improvement Company.—At 
the end of ten years of city management the condition of 
the gas works was so- bad that it would have required 
many millions of dollars to bring it back to a high stand¬ 
ard. In September, 1897, the Mayor suddenly sent to 
Councils an offer from the United Gas Improvement 
Company to rent the gas works, which was accepted 
before the people fairly realized what was being done. 
So the gas works which belonged to the people were 
rented for a period of thirty years to a private company 
to operate for its own profit. Under the management 
of the company the old works were thoroughly repaired 
and renovated, businesslike methods were introduced, 
a better quality of gas was furnished, and the service was 
improved in every way. The experience of Philadelphia 
would seem to prove that a city cannot run its own gas 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


137 


works, but in many cities the plan has succeeded and 
perhaps when the thirty years are up the city may know 
better how to manage its affairs. 

The terms of the gas lease by which the works were 
turned over to the U. G. I. are briefly as follows: 

1. The lease was for a period of thirty years (until 
December 31, 1927). 

2. The city was to receive $10,000 annually from the 
company towards the payment of the expenses of the 
Bureau of Gas. 

3. The company agreed to supply gas of at least twenty- 
two candle power or to pay the city a penalty of $500 for 
each day it failed to do so. 

4. The Chief of the Bureau of Gas (called Inspector of 
Meters) was to test all the gas. 

5. The company agreed to supply the city, without 
charge, gas for the lighting of public buildings, and for all 
the street lamps in use at the beginning of the lease. It 
also agreed to supply 300 new lamps each year. 

6. The price of gas was to remain at $1.00 per thousand 
cubic feet, but the company agreed to pay out of this 
15 cents to the city until 1913, then 20 cents till 1918, 
then 25 cents till 1928. Thus the city was to get an 
increasing tax on the sale of gas. 

7. The company promised to spend at least $15,000,000 
in improvements before the end of the lease. 

8. The city might, at the end of the first ten years, 

take back the gas works if it chose to do so, provided 
it paid for all of the improvements made by the 
company. > 

9. At the end of thirty years the works were to be 
returned to the city without cost. 


138 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


A fuller statement of this lease may be found in the 
Manual of Council. 

The promises made by the United Gas Improvement 
Company seem so fair, and its service has been so good, 
that it is a little hard to see why some people say that 
the city made a great mistake in renting the gas works. 
The reason is that the business is very profitable, and 
these people would like to see the profits go to the city 
to be used in reducing the price to consumers. 

The first ten years expired in 1907, and the city could 
then have taken back its property; but, alas, there was 
no money to pay the bill. The company tried in 1905 to 
get the city to extend the lease to seventy years, but this 
time the people were awake to the meaning of the lease 
and objected so strongly that the request was refused. 

As was shown in the terms of the gas lease, the city is 
really taxing the people through the price of gas. At 
present everyone is paying SI.00 per thousand cubic feet 
of gas, but of this the company returns twenty-five cents 
to the city. This brings to the city a tax revenue of 
more than $1,000,000 every year. If the city would give 
up that money we might have seventy-five cent gas, 
and the City Council has the power to decide to do 
this. The trouble is that if that money were given up 
the people would have to be taxed in some other way to 
help meet the city’s expenses. Some people think that 
another kind of tax would be better because this bears 
more heavily on the poorer classes of people than on the 
well-to-do. 

Electric Lighting.—In 1881 a new form of lighting was 
introduced, electricity, which soon began to replace gas 
for street lighting and then was used extensively in the 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


139 


homes of the people. The Philadelphia Electric Com¬ 
pany put up the first street lights in that year and has 
ever since done a rapidly increasing business for the city. 
Here we have a case quite different from that of the gas 
works. A private company 
started the business itself 
and gradually secured the 
city for one of its biggest 
customers. Electric lights 
have proved so superior for 
street lighting that gas has 
been abandoned entirely on 
the larger streets. We have 
no long-term agreement with 
the electric company, but 
buy electricity by contract 
for a year, just as we do coal 
for heating the public build¬ 
ings. The law requires that 
in buying anything the city 
must ask for bids and then 
give the contract to the 
company making the lowest 
bid. When bids are made 
for coal there are usually 
several companies offering to 
supply us. When bids are 
made for electricity there is always only one company 
bidding, the Philadelphia Electric Company. The reason 
can easily be found. To offer to bid, another company 
would have to invest millions of dollars in wires and 
poles and machinery. The Philadelphia Electric Com- 





ELECTRIC LAMP ON BROAD 
STREET 







140 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADEITHIA 


pany, since it has its equipment already, has a monopoly 
of the business in Philadelphia. 

In 1913 the Director of Public Works began to investi¬ 
gate the prices paid for electric lights in other cities. 
He found that while Philadelphia was paying an average 
of $84 per arc light, Chicago was paying $75, Cleveland 
$49, Detroit $46, Toledo $45, St. Louis $49, Spokane $48. 
He asked the Philadelphia Electric Company to reduce 
its prices but it refused. In that year the State Legislature 
passed a law creating a Public Service Commission. This 
is a body of men appointed by the Governor, whose duty 
it is to protect the interests of the people against unjust 
treatment by the companies which supply light, water, 
telephones, and transportation. The Director appealed 
to the Commission to decide whether or not the electric 
company was charging too much for its services. At 
intervals for nearly two years lawyers representing the 
Director and the company argued before the Commission. 
Experts were brought from other cities to tell of the cost 
to produce electricity and the price charged elsewhere. 
In the end, the company saw that the case was going to 
be decided against it and agreed to adopt a lower scale of 
prices. By this agreement the city saves on its street 
lighting about $100,000 a year. Lower prices were 
made for all consumers, and the people of Philadelphia 
were saved altogether about $1,000,000 a year. The 
company profited too, for its business increased at the 
lower rate. During the war, however, the Commission 
granted temporary permission for an increase in some of 
the rates. 

Gasoline Lighting.—There is still a third kind of 
lighting in use in the city streets, and that is by gasoline. 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


141 


These lights are placed in back streets and alleys where 
there are no gas mains or electric light wires. Gasoline 
lights are expensive and old-fashioned. Philadelphia is 
behind the times in using such a light. They are now 
being reduced in number and it is to be hoped will soon 
disappear. 

Cost of Lighting.—In 1915 the city paid over $2,000,000 
for lighting, and that does not include the gas lights 
which are furnished free by the U. G. I. This money 
went for electric lighting of the streets and public build¬ 
ings to the Philadelphia Electric Company, for gasoline 
lights to the Welsbach Company, for extra gas lights to 
the U. G. I., and for gas lights to the Northern Liberties 
Gas Company. The last-named company was founded 
before the consolidation of the city, to supply light to 
the district north of what was then the city. Its charter 
of 1844 gives it the exclusive right to supply gas to the 
Eleventh, Twelfth, and Sixteenth Wards, but it is bound 
by no duties to the city such as are found in the contract 
with the other gas company, which is said to control it. 
It will be seen that our light business is a big one and 
rather complicated. 

City Bureaus.—There are many confusing things 
about the government of Philadelphia, some of which 
were simplified by the new city charter, but many remain 
unaltered. Nothing requires rearranging more than 
the care of the city’s lights. Three bureaus now divide 
it. The Bureau of Gas, which once had full charge of 
the city gas works, has nothing to do but test the gas 
to see that the U. G. I. provides gas of a proper quality 
and settle disputes over bills between the company and 
its customers. The chief is called Chief Inspector of 


142 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Meters. The Electrical Bureau has for its principal 
work the maintenance of the fire alarm and police tele¬ 
phone system, and the telephones for all the city depart¬ 
ments; but to this it adds the supervision of the electric 
lighting done for the city by the Philadelphia Electric 
Company. The Bureau of Lighting, which by its name 
would seem to have all the work to do, is only concerned 
with the supervision of the placing of the new lights in 
proper places throughout the city. To make things 
more confusing the Bureau of Gas and the Bureau of 
Lighting are in the Department of Public Works, while 
the Electrical Bureau is a part of the Department of 
Public Safety. The Chief Inspector of Meters and the 
chiefs of the other bureaus confer about their work, but 
it would be so much simpler to have it done by one 
bureau as well as cheaper for the taxpayers of Philadelphia. 

In spite of the fact that the lights are all supplied by 
privately owned companies there is a great deal to be done 
by the city bureaus. The contract of the Philadelphia 
Electric Company states that it is liable to pay fines for 
allowing the street lights to be out. The lease to the 
U. G. I. requires that each street light shall be equal 
to twenty-two standard candles in lighting power. 
Otherwise the company must pay a fine for each weak 
light. It requires a good deal of work for the light 
inspectors to keep track of these failures of the three 
lighting companies. The gas and gasoline lights must be 
tested according to a method prescribed by the contracts, 
and this requires a great deal of scientific knowledge. 
There is the question too of the kind of light provided. 
The city officers not long ago persuaded the gas com¬ 
pany to put incandescent mantles on its lights, and to 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


143 


replace thousands of gasoline lights by gas lights. About 
the same time it was brought to the attention of the 
electric company that they were using an old-fashioned 
arc light which had been 
discarded by other cities. 

Since then powerful modern 
lights are being gradually in¬ 
stalled at the company’s own 
expense. 

Lighting for Civic Beauty. 

—City Hall is beautifully 
lighted at night. The ring 
of twenty-eight ornamental 
lamp-posts around the build¬ 
ing, each bearing a cluster of 
twenty-eight lights, com¬ 
memorates the twenty-eight 
districts which united with 
old Philadelphia to form the 
present city in 1854. These 
lamps were established in 
the year of the great cele¬ 
bration of the founding of 
the city (1908). Each is a 

, , ,1 ORNAMENTAL LAMP, CITY HALL 

monument to one ot the old square 

districts and bears its name At the base of each of these twenty- 

eight lamp-posts IS an inscription bearing 

and seal upon the base. 

High above the ring of 

lights rises the tower, shining with the reflected glow 
from great batteries of lights concealed at the corners 
of the roof. Highest of all, the statue of William Penn 
shines above a circle of arc lights. On every holiday 







144 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


occasion or when some convention comes to Philadelphia, 
the Electrical Bureau exercises its ingenuity in ornament¬ 
ing the hall with great colored designs to celebrate the 
occasion. These are usually over the four main entrances. 
Great improvements have been made in recent years in 
the electric lighting of our main thoroughfares. The 
brilliancy of the lights has been increased and an orna 
mental type of poles adopted. The finest of these new 
poles are those in the center of Broad Street. 

Gas and Electricity in the Home.—So far we have been 
speaking only of the public use of gas and electricity. 
Probably every one is much more interested in their use 
in the home. No woman who has used 'a gas stove 
returns willingly to a coal range. If the housekeeper is 
so fortunate as to have an electric vacuum cleaner she 
would consider it a great misfortune to have to go back 
to sweeping with a broom, with all its accompaniments of 
dust and confusion. The reduction in the prices of gas 
and electricity make possible all sorts of appliances to 
render housekeeping pleasant and easy. It seems likely 
that in the homes of the future coal will not be used at 
all. It is a nuisance from the time that the delivery 
wagon spills black dust over the pavement and cellar 
to the time when the ash man gives a coating of gray to 
the premises in removing the waste. If gas can be pro¬ 
duced cheaply enough it will be much better to heat our 
houses and cook our food with it. At the same time the 
use of electric appliances is following closely behind the 
use of gas. The time may come when we shall do our 
cooking and heating, as well as our cleaning, by electricity. 
Both improvements are going to make our homes much 
pleasanter to live in. 


THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY 


145 


Cheaper Gas and Electricity. —At present the high 
prices prevent many of us from taking advantage of 
these comforts. So all Philadelphia is interested in the ' 
prospect of the reduction of prices. There are several 
ways in which this reduction may come about. Scientific, 
men are constantly discovering new methods of manu¬ 
facture which tend to make production cheaper. In the. 
second place, the public utility companies are showing- 
greater willingness to reduce prices because in this w^ay 
they secure more business. Thirdly, the state now has. 
a Public Service Commission which has done us good 
service in showing that the electric rates should be lowered 
and is likely to help in other matters. As a last resort, 
Philadelphia could do as many other cities ha^e done, 
and supply itself with both gas and electricity.. In that 
case profits could be cut out and the people served at 
cost. Whatever the future may bring, the people of 
Philadelphia are going to be much interested. 


10 



» 





CHAPTER VIII 


The Public School System 

The educational opportunities of a great city like 
Philadelphia are almost endless. Besides the numerous 
libraries, museums, art galleries, and theaters, there is 
the educational work conducted by the churches, by 
social settlements, by great industrial or commercial 
establishments. There are schools for the blind, the 
deaf, the feeble-minded, the incurable. There are 
private or semi-public institutions of all grades, from the 
private kindergarten to the business colleges, the Y. M. 
C. A., the School for Social Service, Temple University, 
and the University of Pennsylvania. Then there is 
the system of parochial schools, with its ninety elementary 
parish schools, its high school for girls and its two high 
schools for boys, with a total attendance of over 75,000. 
And finally, there is Girard College, city-owned and con¬ 
trolled, with its 1,600 pupils and its splendid working 
income of $1,000,000 a year. 

The educational facilities named above deserve far 
more than a mere mention—an entire chapter would 
utterly fail to do them justice. But they must all be 
passed over, because this book is primarily concerned 
with public institutions; and the public school system of 
Philadelphia is so extensive and so complicated that it 
needs the whole chapter for even a brief description of it. 
In 1918 the system celebrated the centennial anniversary 
of its founding. And in commemoration of that event 

( 146 ) 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


147 


the Superintendent of Schools wrote a historical sketch 
in booklet form, to which the reader is referred for many 
interesting facts and figures. 

Perhaps nothing could afford us a better idea of the 
wonderful growth of the city than to learn that when its 
public school system was organized, over a hundred' 
years ago, it had six schools, ten teachers, and less than 
3,000 pupils, on each of whom it spent on the average 
about $3.50 per year; whereas now it has over 200 schools, 
housed in some 350 buildings, more than 6,000 teachers, 
and about 230,000 pupils, on each of whom it spends on 
the average nearly $40 per year—or, based on average 
daily attendance, about $50. 

An even more interesting comparison is one that con¬ 
trasts the school of a generation ago with the school of 
to-day. 

The School of a Generation Ago.—generation ago 
the Philadelphia elementary schools, like those of most 
other cities, were housed in small, dark, badly ventilated 
fire-traps of buildings. There were usually no corridors, 
the class rooms being packed tightly together so that 
many of them could be reached only by passing through 
others. There were no fire escapes and rarely any fire 
drills; and yet the inside structure was altogether of 
wood, and the heating apparatus gave no sort of guarantee 
against trouble from fire. Two small windows in each 
class room were regarded as ample to let in the light, 
even when, as was usually the case, adjacent buildings 
were so close as to shut out much of the light and all of 
the sunshine. The playgrounds were so small that real 
play was almost out of the question, and play apparatus 
was unknown. The toilet facilities were inadequate and 


148 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the general sanitary conditions were often a menace to 
health. A number of these old buildings are still in use, 
but they are being modernized as rapidly as possible. 

So much for the equipment. The course of study was 
equally lacking. 

The 'Three R’s” were pretty well done, with an 



AN OLD SCHOOL BUILDING 


amount of drill that was valuable for the younger pupils. 
But unfortunately there was little else for the older 
pupils to do except some drawing, some formal grammar, 
some physiology which was largely anatomy, some 
routine history usually memorized from the text book, 
some geography taught in much the same fashion, and 
a memorized study of the United States Constitution 
that was perhaps worst of all. However, there were 






THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


149 


capable, devoted teachers, and the boys and girls received 
much of real education. 

Turning to the high schools, we find two decently 
equipped schools, one for boys and the other for girls, 
with teachers many of whom had had college education. 
The work done in these two schools compared favorably 
with that done in any of the leading high schools of the 
country. ‘ " 

But district high schools were hardly dreamed of, and 
the young people of southwest Philadelphia or German¬ 
town or Byberry had to take long horse-car rides to reach 
one of the high schools. So there is no wonder that the 
number of pupils who even entered high school was very 
small, and that the number of those who graduated was 
still smaller. Two additional manual training three-year 
high schools, one of which was near the other high schools, 
helped matters some for the boys. The girls could shift 
for themselves. 

The School of To-day.—Let us call this the nineteenth 
century school, and then set over against it the school of 
to-day, which we will call the twentieth century school. 

Elementary School: Appearance, Cost.—The up-to- 
date elementary school building is an ornament archi¬ 
tecturally, set in the midst of spacious grounds, and 
costing in the neighborhood of $8,000 per class room, or 
from $100,000 to $300,000 according to size. 

Fireproof Construction: Corridors, Stairways, Fire 
Escapes.—Our new buildings are as near fireproof as, 
they can be made, with their cement floors and stairways,, 
steel ceilings, and slate or slag roofs. Moreover, they 
have broad, well-lighted corridors passing every room, and 
either duplex fire escape stairways or enclosed fire towers. 


150 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Lighting, etc.—The class rooms are beautifully lighted, 
and always from the left side of the pupils. These rooms 
fully comply with the requirement of the School Code 
(1911) that the total light area must equal at least twenty 
per cent of the floor space. The additional requirements 
of fifteen square feet of floor area and 200 cubic feet of 
air space per pupil in each class room are also met in the 
newer school buildings. 



MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 


Heating and Ventilation.—The heating and ventilating 
system installed in these new buildings is a triumph of 
engineering skill. The legal requirement for class room 
ventilation is the delivery into each room of at least 
thirty cubic feet of fresh air per minute for each pupil. 
This air supply is provided by the '‘plenum^’ system, 
which keeps the volume of air constant while the tem¬ 
perature is raised or lowered to meet weather conditions. 

The air is taken in at or near grade and passes first 








THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


151 


through the primary heater (see diagram), in which its 
temperature may be raised from 0° to 40° F. The 
second stage is the air washer, in which the air is properly 
humidified and ninety-eight per cent of all suspended 
matter is eliminated. From the washer the air passes 
to the secondary heater, where the temperature may be 
raised to 90° F. The fresh air is moved by the usual 
type of “steel plate’’ fan (driven by engine or motor) 
through ducts and 
vertical flues, and is 
delivered into the 
rooms at about nine 
feet above the floor, 
the flues being on the 
inside walls and de¬ 
livering air towards 
the windows. 

This “plenum” 
system is supple¬ 
mented by 1 the 
use of radiators 
in each room, the quantity of this radiation being suffi¬ 
cient to offset the heat losses through the walls and 
windows. These “direct” radiators are under automatic 
control, through the use of the thermostat. 

The ventilation is through vertical flues, grouped with 
the heat flues and of the same size, the intake of foul 
air being at the floor level. These vent flues continue 
up to the attic or loft space and connect through ducts 
with the ventilators above the roofs. Each room has 
its independent flues for both heating and ventilation, 
and the heaters are built in groups or sections, each group 



DIAGRAM OF HEATING SYSTEM 





































































152 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


being controlled by valves in the steam and return pipes. 
From this it will be seen that the modern system of school 
heating and ventilation is one of great flexibility. 

Class Rooms.—In the individual class rooms we find 
an amount and variety of equipment that would be 
amazing to a Rip Van Winkle who went to sleep a quarter 
of a century ago. In addition to the text books furnished 
each pupil, Rip could see helpful maps and charts, 
reference books, material for cooking and sewing as well 
as for manual and shop work, museum collections, pianos, 
phonographs, stereopticons and slides, perhaps even 
moving pictures. He would find assorted sizes of seats 
and desks, special rooms for kindergarten classes, play 
rooms in the basement. For the physical side there 
would be play apparatus and the equipment for organized 
athletics. In a very few of the schools he would discover 
fine assembly rooms, now in constant use for various 
purposes, and in many of the schools pleasant adminis¬ 
trative ©flfices for the principal and the clerical force. 
All of this goes to make up the complete modern 
elementary school. 

Secondary School.—The district high schools have 
as much of the foregoing equipment as they have need 
for, together with laboratories for biology, chemistry, 
and physics. Some of them have, in addition, a well- 
stocked reference library with a trained librarian in 
charge, as well as a liberal supply of maps, charts, filing 
cabinets, and other necessary aids to more advanced 
instruction. In addition, they have rooms equipped for 
the teaching of industrial and commercial branches. 

All this is more expensive than the outfit of an ele¬ 
mentary school, the classes are smaller on the average, 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


153 


and the salaries of the teachers higher. As a result, the 
yearly per capita cost of running a high school is three 
times that of an elementary school. The new junior 
high school will be the connecting link between the two. 

Activities.—Coming now to the school activities, we 
find that they include both book work and hand work; 
and that in addition they are planned not only for mental 



A MODERN HIGH SCHOOL 


and moral development, but for physical growth as well. 
Fortunately the sharp distinction between the elementary^ 
and the secondary schools is being broken down; and 
the coming of the junior high school will hasten the 
arrival of a unified school system. 

Revised Courses of Study.—During the last few years 
the courses of study that had come down as a legacy 
from the nineteenth century have been undergoing care¬ 
ful revision. Arithmetic, hygiene, civics, history, English, 
geography—all have been or are being worked over mos^t 

















154 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


painstakingly by committees of superintendents, princi¬ 
pals, and teachers, with the design of fitting them more 
perfectly to the changing needs and the new educational 
ideas of the century. A few examples will help to illus¬ 
trate the new point of view. 

The revised course in physiology and hygiene provides 
for the teaching of correct habits of cleanliness, of eating 
and drinking, of posture and breathing, and of habits 
which prevent contagion. The emphasis is placed upon 
bodily function and care, rather than on bodily structure, 
which is relatively of much less interest and value to the 
child. 

Civics has really become a new subject in the curricu¬ 
lum, as the formal study of the Federal Constitution 
which the new course has replaced was too brief and too 
abstract to touch the life of the boy or girl. The present 
course extends throughout the eight years of the ele¬ 
mentary school, and has for its aim the making of good 
citizens. This it hopes to accomplish both through 
habit formation and through ability to cooperate with 
others in the rendering of service to the community. 
Dependence, interdependence, service, cooperation—these 
are the lessons that must be learned by the young citizens 
of the class, and this is the training in citizenship that the 
eight years of civics is trying to give. 

The Kindergarten.—Less than a hundred years ago 
Froebel established the first kindergarten or school for 
little children. The kindergarten of to-day follows closely 
the lines laid down by this educational pioneer, with its 
combination of play, hand work, song, and story—all 
helping to acquaint the child with the world around him 
and to bring him into harmonious relation to it. The 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


155 


different seasons of the year form a background to the 
games and songs, while the most prominent holidays are 
made the occasion for simple festivals, to which the 
parents are invited. Social virtues such as kindness, 
courtesy, and fairness are developed, and interest in the 
simple trades is stimulated by songs about the carpenter, 
the baker, and others. There are about 275 public 
kindergartens in Philadelphia. 

Music.—One of the earliest of these welcome additions 
to the ^Hhree R^s” was music. Sight reading, extending 
even to four-part singing, is supplemented by the singing 
of rote songs to develop musical taste. In addition to 
the class room work, school orchestras, glee clubs,, and 
choruses give added experience in sight reading and in 
musical interpretation. 

Drawing.—In the drawing department the pupils first 
use colored crayons and pencils, drawing both natural 
and artificial objects. In the grammar grades water 
colors are introduced. The boys and girls learn to deco¬ 
rate the articles they make in their hand work periods, 
such as posters, portfolios, and book covers. Later on, 
the boys are taught constructive drawing in connection 
with their shop work. Throughout the course the aim 
is kept in view to train the young people to see the 
difference between the beautiful and the commonplace, 
and to take a keen enjoyment in works of art. 

This is particularly exemplified in the Public Industrial 
Art School, at Park Avenue and Master Street, to which 
hundreds of grammar school boys and girls find their 
way for one afternoon each week. Here they receive 
careful instruction in drawing and design, clay modeling, 
and wood carving. Many of those who enroll work 


156 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


faithfully for two years to obtain the coveted diploma 
of the school. 

Industrial Hand Art Work.—Coming back to the regu¬ 
lar elementary school work, we find that the foundation 
for the industrial and domestic arts is laid in the elemen¬ 
tary hand work of the early grades, where the boys and 
girls get their first ideas of form and structure through 
paper folding, cutting, pasting, and decorating. Accu¬ 
racy and neatness are insisted upon, as fundamental ta 
good work later on. 

When the boys reach the fifth grade they begin the 
use of more difficult materials, such as wood, textiles, 
and metals. Care is taken that hand work projects 
shall be within the constructive ability of boys of the 
fifth and sixth grades. Work such as the following has 
met this requirement: weaving of rag rugs; testing of 
fabrics; bookbinding and repairing of school books; 
making of toys, bird boxes, flower boxes, book racks. 

Much information is woven into the course concerning 
business conditions and practices, for it is planned to 
give the boys both a valuable industrial training and an 
industrial viewpoint for the future. It helps the pupils, 
especially those who are soon to leave school for work, 
to answer that all-important question, ^^What am I to 
do?^’ To further this aim the hand work of the sixth 
grade is correlated with the course in industrial civics for 
that grade. 

Industrial Art: Shop Work.—From the hand work of 
the fifth and sixth grades the boys advance to the shop 
work of the seventh and eighth. There are now about 
fifty elementary school shop centers in Philadelphia 
where instruction in shop work is given, one-half day 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


157 


each week, to the boys of the seventh and eighth grades. 
A shop center is a specially equipped workroom in a 
grammar school, in charge of a trained teacher, to which 
the pupils come from neighboring schools. The boys 
construct various articles of wood, using the common 
wood-working tools, and in addition they are given simple , 



A WOOD-WORKING CLASS 


problems in wood finishing. The projects made consist 
of articles for the boys’ homes, for themselves personally, 
or for the schools. 

The activities of the shops are made as practical as 
possible, and instruction is given by teachers chosen 
for their position because they are practical journeymen 
mechanics possessing executive and teaching ability. 

The shop work, as carried on in the schools to-day, 
affords the boys several vital benefits: first, a back- 











158 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


ground of experience which gives added meaning and 
interest to their class-room studies; second, the oppor¬ 
tunity to do practical and useful work, thereby stimu¬ 
lating self-appreciation and a spirit of manliness; and 
third, valuable information about industrial conditions 
and practices. 

Domestic Art: Sewing, etc.—When the girls reach the 
fifth grade they start to learn the use of the needle—a 
more precise tool than crayon or pencil or shears. Begin¬ 
ning with towels and handkerchiefs, they progress to 
simple garments and finally to shirtwaists and dresses. 
In making these garments the girls learn to use com- 
rhercial patterns and to draft their own. Mending and 
darning are also taught. With each lesson there is 
a short recitation period, in which the pupils describe 
in correct English the work of the day. The aim of 
the course is to develop girls mentally as well as manually, 
and to prepare them to be intelligent, skillful, and 
practical home-makers. 

Domestic Science: Cooking, etc.—When the seventh 
grade is reached the girls enter upon another phase of 
their preparation as home-makers, for they start on a two 
years^ course in domestic science. The sequence of 
lessons is based upon the nutrients, or food principles. 
Beginning with starch, as found in cereals, potatoes, 
and other vegetables, it follows with the use of flours and 
the principles underlying leavening agents. Later, 
instruction is given in the cooking of protein foods, such 
as eggs, milk, cheese, fish, and meats. In the eighth 
grade balanced rations are taught in a simple way, 
having meals cooked in illustration of the principles 
studied. The course also includes food preservation and 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


159 


food conservation, two subjects of special interest in 
time of war. 

An eighth grade girl comes to appreciate the impor¬ 
tance of the weekly wage. This is evidenced by the 
discussions on housing, on economy in food and clothing, 
and on the right use of leisure time, as well as on the 



A COOKING CLASS 


various kinds of savings, such as life insurance and build¬ 
ing and loan societies. It is to be regretted that the 
boys are not included in the above instruction. 

School Provision for Handicapped Children.—Atten¬ 
tion must be directed to those less fortunate children 
of whom there are several thousand in Philadelphia who 
have serious physical or mental defects, or who for other 
reasons are backward in school. Many of these children 
cannot get along well in the ordinary classes, and some 







160 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


cannot even go to school at all as other children do. For 
these handicapped children special classes are provided 
that are suited to their needs. 

There are orthopedic classes for children so seriously 
crippled that they cannot walk to school, or who require 
special attention in school. These children are taken 



AN OPEN-AIR CLASS 


to and from school in busses, and their class rooms are 
provided with adjustable desks, wheel chairs, and couches 
for rest periods. 

There are open-window classes for anemic and under¬ 
nourished children, and open-air classes for tubercular 
children. Blankets, sweaters, and other warm clothing 
are provided, so that the children can study in the fresh 
air even during the winter months. Couches for use 
during rest periods are also furnished. Children not able 





THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


161 


to walk to school are brought in busses, the same as the 
crippled children. 

Backward and delinquent children are provided for 
in what are known as orthogenic classes. Into these are 
gathered the pupils who, because of bad home conditions 
or from mental deficiency, need a kind of encouragement 
or restraint they cannot get in a regular class. Specially 
trained teachers and small classes make this possible. 

And finally, special classes in English are conducted for 
children of foreign parentage. Many of these children 
are too large or too intelligent to be placed in the lowest 
grades, and so are given special instruction in English to 
enable them to go into the grades where they belong. 

Continuation Classes.—For those boys and girls who 
leave early to go into industry the city furnishes con¬ 
tinuation classes, in accordance with the Child Labor 
Act of 1915. These classes are conducted in twenty- 
eight elementary schools, twelve high schools, and ten 
places of employment. They are graded from the 
seventh year up. Pupils of the elementary grades receive 
six hours a week of academic and two hours of vocational 
instruction, the academic instruction being related as 
closely as possible to the activities in which boys and 
girls of that age are likely to engage. About thirty-five 
per cent of the young workers change their place of 
employment each month, and this often includes a change 
in the nature of their employment as well. Accordingly, 
instruction with specific reference to the actual employ¬ 
ment of the young people is given only where the classes 
are held in some establishment. 

As a rule, pupils attend school four hours a day two 
days in the week. There are over 10,000 pupils enrolled 


11 


162 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


in the continuation classes, three-fourths of whom are in 
the elementary grades. School sessions are from 8 to 12 
and from 1 to 5. 

Evening Schools.—Evening schools are conducted in 
about a dozen elementary schools, five high schools, and 
three buildings of the Trades School for Boys. The 
number of elementary buildings used varies from time 
to time, according to the attendance. In all the ele¬ 
mentary schools particular emphasis is laid on instruction 
in English for foreigners and in preparation for citizen¬ 
ship. Regular courses in common school branches are 
also given. In the higher schools courses are given in 
practically all high school studies for which there is a 
demand, including manual and mechanical arts. The 
evening trades school gives specific trade instruction. 

The Trade Schools.—^As a part of the secondary school 
system of Philadelphia, trades schools are provided which 
furnish opportunity for boys and girls to secure special 
training that will fit them for a place in industry. The 
Trades School for Boys and the Trade School for Girls 
differ from one another in entrance requirements and in 
length and character of school course. To enter the 
former a boy must have completed the eighth grade, and 
the course is four years in length. To enter the latter 
a girl must have completed the eighth grade or be eligible 
for an employment certificate, and the course is ordi¬ 
narily only one year in length. 

In the boys^ school the special trade instruction is 
supplemented by the essentials of an all-round high school 
course, with practical applications of each subject— 
English, history, civics and economics, mathematics, 
science, drawing, and shop work. In the second and third 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


163 


years the special work in the selected trade is given, the 
trades including architectural drafting, carpentry, cabinet¬ 
making, electrical construction, machine-shop practice, 
mechanical drafting, pattern-making, printing, and sheet 
metal pattern drafting. In the girls’ school forty per 
cent of the time is devoted to the study of business and 
trade arithmetic, industrial history, business English, 
civics, and hygiene. The rest of the school day is spent 
in trade work, which includes dressmaking, millinery, and 
the factory garment trades. In both schools the pupils 
are encouraged to read trade magazines and the standard 
books of their trades, and to continue their studies after 
they shall have gone to work. In each school trade classes 
are operated in the evenings for the benefit of those who 
are already in industry. Both schools recognize that it 
is becoming increasingly difficult for a young person to 
learn a trade in a business establishment, while at the 
same time employers are less and less willing to employ 
young people who have had no training for their work. 

School Gardens.—School garden work in Philadelphia 
includes school gardens large and small, home gardens, 
vacant lots or “war gardens,” Achievement Clubs in 
gardening, poultry raising, and canning, and the care of 
trees and shrubbery. The school garden was started 
in 1904, making it one of the first examples of such organ¬ 
ized activity in the United States. The work aims to 
reach pupils of all ages, from the kindergarten to the 
high school. The gardens are open from April 1st to 
November 1st, six days a week. 

Fall exhibits are held in nearly half the schools, and 
there is competition among the schools for the best 
exhibit. In the summer of 1916 a vigorous campaign 


164 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


was conducted against the tussock moth. No prizes were 
offered, but the appeal was made on the basis of good 
citizenship. 

Physical Training: Exercises, Games, etc.—Through¬ 
out the eight grades two aims are kept especially in mind 



A SCHOOL GARDEN 


in physical training: first, to counteract the detrimental 
effects which the confinement of school life brings to the 
young person; and second, to increase the elimination of 
waste matter from the body and so insure normal, healthy 
growth. All the exercises and games are selected with 
these aims in mind. 




THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


165 

Besides the setting-up exercises there are athletic 
games of all sorts within each school, and scheduled con¬ 
tests between the schools, including track and field sports, 
captain ball, volley ball, soccer, baseball, and swimming. 
As a wind-up to the year’s work a general Field Day is 
held in Fairmount Park in May, at which there are track 
and field contests, games, and dances. A record is kept 
of the scores, and the school making the greatest number 
of points in any group of contests is given a trophy to 
hold for one year. 

During the summer the work in physical education is 
carried on through the supervised school playgrounds, 
the school gardens, and swimming which is taught in the 
public baths. Physical activity outside of school is 
encouraged through various outdoor clubs for boys and 
girls. 

Medical Inspection and School Nurses.—Medical 
inspection of the public schools is performed by the 
Division of Contagious Diseases of the Department of 
Health, though the work is paid for by the Board of 
Education. These medical inspectors, sixty in number, 
go from school to school examining all children who show 
any symptoms of illness or who are returning to school 
after an absence. Any child found suffering from a 
contagious disease is at once sent home, and the Depart¬ 
ment of Public Health is notified. Sometimes an entire 
class is examined, as, for example, when one of its mem¬ 
bers is taken with scarlet fever or diphtheria. 

The School Code requires that each pupil in the public 
schools be given a physical examination annually, in 
order to detect physical troubles, such as defective sight 
or hearing, decayed teeth, bad condition of the nose or 


166 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


throat, heart disease, or some bodily deformity. A 
record is made of the defects found and the parents are 
notified by the principal. 

It is right here that the work of the school nurse comes 
in. She not only interviews the child, but wherever 
necessarv follows the child into the home and has an 

interview with one or 
both of the parents. She 
tries to impress upon the 
parent the importance 
of complying with the 
orders of the medical 
inspector. The employ¬ 
ment of a nurse greatly 
increases the number of 
defects corrected as com¬ 
pared to the number 
where this follow-up 
work is not done. Over 
three-fourths of the 
elementary schools are 
now covered by this 
service, with a school 
population of 150,000. 

Other activities of the medical inspectors include: 
the vaccination of school children, when requested by the 
parents; the medical examination of poorly nourished, 
tubercular, or crippled children, and the recommen¬ 
dation of special classes for them; the examination of 
mentally deficient children, so far as it might affect 
their school attendance; the examination of children 
who apply for work certificates; an annual sanitary 







THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


167 


inspection of the school buildings, as required by the 
School Code. 

School Luncheons.—The school luncheon has come to 
be recognized as an important educational movement, 
and has been given proper recognition in the Philadelphia 
public school system by the creation of a Department of 



{Courtesy of the Department of Health) 
A SCHOOL LUNCH ROOM 


A substantial lunch is provided at the lowest possible cost. Many children go to 
school without breakfast. It is the purpose of the school lunch to combat malnutrition 
and to discourage the purchase of improper foods from vendors. 


School Luncheons. Under this department provision 
is made for serving an d-la-carte lunch during the noon 
recess at the Normal School for Girls, the Trades School 
for Boys, the high schools, and the special classes of 
some other schools. A morning recess lunch is served in 
twenty-three of the elementary schools, and to some of 
the special classes a breakfast is given at nine-thirty in 





168 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the morning. Supper is also provided in two schools for 
those attending evening classes. 

The aim is to provide an opportunity for the pupils to 
procure clean, wholesome, well-cooked food at a minimum 
cost; and at the same time to teach the girls and the boys 
to enjoy the simple, substantial foods which should 
constitute the normal daily diet of every well-nourished 
individual, 

I* Compulsory Education.—The School Code provides 
that an enumeration of all children between six and 
sixteen years of age shall be made annually between 
April 1st and September 1st. The information required 
is obtained by the Bureau of Compulsory Education 
through careful inquiry at the home of each family. 
'The data thus secured are used as a partial basis for the 
apportionment of the state school fund, which in the 
case of Philadelphia amounts to about a million dollars. 
The enumeration is made primarily, however, for the 
purpose of securing information which will enable attend¬ 
ance officers to enforce the compulsory attendance law. 
The report for 1917 records approximately 315,000 
names, representing some 150,000 homes. 

I In compliance with the provision of the compulsory 
education law the public, parochial, and private schools 
of the city reported to the bureau over 225,000 cases for 
investigation in 1917. Nearly 300,000 visits to homes and 
schools were made by attendance supervisors and attend¬ 
ance officers in order to dispose of these cases. Proper 
enforcement of school attendance laws in a great city 
requires not only forceful dealings with parents who will 
not send their children to school, but constructive social 
work among families who are unable to send their chil- 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


169 


dren to school because of economic or home conditions. 
Moreover, the bureau must deal with the problem of 
the truant—the product of vicious home or street or 
other environmental conditions. In Philadelphia these 
social delinquents must be reached through moral suasion, 
because of the lack of a parental or residential school for 
their proper treatment. 

The bureau is also entrusted with the issuance of 
employment certificates to children between fourteen 
and sixteen years of age who leave school for work in 
industries. Before an employment certificate is issued 
the prospective employer must state in writing the con¬ 
ditions of employment, and the parent must, in person, 
approve. Certification must be made by the school as 
to the completion of the sixth year, and an examining 
physician must certify to the physical fitness of the child 
for the job. Proof of legal age, in legal form, must also 
be produced. When the certificate is issued and mailed to 
the employer his written acknowledgment must be 
procured. Finally, arrangements must be made for the 
enrollment of the child in a continuation class, and a 
close follow-up system must be provided to deal with 
absentees and non-employed minors. 

Placement Work.—^As part of the agreement with the 
state Department of Labor and Industry, the Bureau of 
Compulsory Education in Philadelphia deals with minors 
under eighteen years of age seeking advice in regard to 
employment. Being in close touch with the various 
employers of juveniles through the issuance of working 
certificates, the bureau is well able to render this service. 
Applicants for work are interviewed by the Employment 
Supervisor and given full information about the occu- 


170 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


pation for which they seem best fitted by aptitude and 
training. In many instances after-school and vacation 
employment are secured, thus enabling children to remain 
in school who otherwise would be forced to leave. 
Records of all placements are kept and an endeavor is 
made to follow up the children, secure reports of their 
progress, and, where necessary, advise or relocate them. 

During the last year the bureau has been aided in 
this work by a private organization of the city, which 
is known as the Vocational Guidance Committee for 
Girls. Through the efforts of this committee many 
girls are persuaded to remain in school where there is no 
real financial necessity for them to leave; or, if there is 
such necessity, a private scholarship is sometimes 
obtained to enable them to stay in school. If it seems 
best for the girls to go to work they are helped to start 
their industrial life in the right way, that is, to obtain a 
suitable job, to enroll in evening classes, and to find 
healthful recreation. 

Community Center .—The idea of utilizing school 
buildings as neighborhood centers for the people is here 
to stay. All over the country, old and young, men, 
women and children, gather in school-houses for good 
fellowship, for lectures, concerts, and social dancing, for 
classes and clubs of every description; and on election 
day they often utilize their school-houses as polling 
places. 

At the Kearney School, Sixth Street and Fairmount 
Avenue, situated in the heart of a community numbering 
seventeen nationalities, the first school community center 
in Philadelphia has been opened. The Board of Educa¬ 
tion has given the use of the building, and an interested 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


171 


group of citizens has financed the undertaking. Young 
and old have their classes and clubs. Lectures, dancing, 
music, dramatics, embroidery and knitting, and Ameri¬ 
canization classes make up a varied and helpful program. 
The center is in charge of a trained social worker. 

High School. —The idea of high school education in 
Philadelphia took definite shape in 1836, when the Board 
of Control authorized the establishment of the Central 
High School, ^Tor the full education of such pupils 
[boys] of the public schools as may possess the requisite 
qualifications.’’ These ^^qualifications” were tested by 
examinations that strained out all but the very best 
students, and even of those only a limited number were 
permitted to enter from each grammar school. Indeed, 
for a time the elementary schools were entitled to send 
only one pupil for each grammar division, and boys would 
change from one school to another in order to get the 
chance to enter the high school. But gradually the 
democratic ideal of high school education for the largest 
possible number took the place of the aristocratic notion 
of reserving such advanced instruction for the select few, 
and high school opportunities were widened into the 
present system of district high schools open to all. 

The High Schools for Boys. —The high schools for boys, 
of which there are six, all agree in offering three courses 
of study: academic, commercial, and mechanic arts. 

The academic course is planned primarily for the boy 
who expects to enter one of the so-called ^Tiberal” profes¬ 
sions, or at least to enter some college of liberal arts. It 
therefore consists mainly of languages, mathematics, 
science, and history. 

The commercial course is made up largely of these same 



172 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


general studies; but in place of the ancient languages 
one finds bookkeeping, commercial law, stenography and 
typewriting, accounting, history of commerce, and eco¬ 
nomics with practical application to money, banking, and 
transportation. The aim is to teach boys to think care¬ 
fully, accurately, and quickly along many lines, and at 
the same time to lay a foundation for a business career 
rather than to acquire skill and proficiency along one 
or two lines of business practice. Accordingly, while 
matters having to do with the technicalities of business are 
introduced, they occupy a secondary place. On the 
other hand, while the course retains much that is in the 
established educational system, it tries to give it a more 
practical bent. A considerable number of the graduates 
enter the colleges and universities, but a much larger 
number go directly into some line of business. 

The mechanic arts course appeals less to the purely 
intellectual than to the more practical quality of mind. 
Accordingly, in place of the ancient languages and of one 
modern language we find a considerable amount of 
drawing and shop work. The department has well- 
equipped drawing rooms; wood-working rooms with 
benches and lathes and power tools for joinery, cabinet¬ 
making, and pattern-making; forges with every facility 
for all kinds of smithing; sheet-metal shops in which 
work in tin, copper, and iron is done; machine shops with 
lathes, planers, drills, etc. The student advances through 
the hand processes to those of the machines, and com¬ 
binations of the two, with emphasis on principles and 
methods rather than on the acquiring of great technical 
skill. As far as possible the projects are planned by the 
students themselves, and then these projects are worked 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


173 


out in wood or metal to a final conclusion and their under¬ 
lying principles demonstrated. By this method a boy 
is made to feel the close relation of his school work to 
real life work. Graduates of this course are admitted to 
the higher institutions on the same plane as those of the 
academic course. The large number of graduates of 
this course who are now prominent in the professions is 
evidence of its value and its tendencies. 



{Courtesy of Rau Art Studios, Inc.) 
AUDITORIUM OF A GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL 


High Schools for Girls. —The present High School for 
Girls has this interesting bit of history. First organized 
as a normal school in 1848, twelve years later it widened 
its scope and became known officially as the High and 
Normal School for Girls. Eventually the departments 
became separate and distinct institutions. Until 1893 
the course of study in the High School for Girls was 
purely academic; but in that year a commercial course was 
added. This department grew so rapidly that in 1898 a 
separate Commercial High School for Girls was organized. 











174 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


In 1909 the latter school was merged in the new William 
Penn High School for Girls, which was the first of an 
entirely new type of secondary school for the city—the 
^‘composite’’ high school. i 

The William Penn School offers courses to meet a wide 
variety of needs on the part of the different girls with 
varying tastes and vocational futures. In order to do 
this it maintains a full line of instmction in the purely 
academic subjects, continues the commercial course, 
and has added a new course in household arts. More¬ 
over, the need has been recognized for at least a minimum 
of domestic science for all girls. All of the seven district 
high schools for girls are of this composite type; hence 
the need for two separate high schools for girls in the 
central part of the city is no longer felt. 

The commercial courses in the girls’ high schools, as 
in the boys’, are intended to give the pupils a well- 
rounded education, with special emphasis on commercial 
subjects, rather than to train for skill in some one or two 
phases of business life. And the same is true of the 
courses in household arts, where studies in domestic 
science take the place of the ancient languages and of a 
portion of higher mathematics. 

An unexpected development of the domestic science 
courses has been that girls who have had this training 
have always found it easy to secure positions as dietitians 
or managers in hospitals or homes, or in restaurants. 
Many have gone on to advanced institutions, particu¬ 
larly to Drexel Institute and State College or to the 
domestic science course of the Normal School for Girls. 

Uniform Courses of Study.—At first each high school 
made its own courses of study. This was exceedingly 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


175 


inconvenient to pupils who transferred from one school 
to another. The girls’ schools have now remedied this 
defect, in large measure, by standardizing the various 
courses offered. The new plan for the girls’ high schools 
is more flexible than any of the individual plans that 
preceded it. For example, in the academic course only 
two years of a foreign language and two years of mathe¬ 
matics are required for graduation. In the commercial 
and domestic science courses no foreign language is 
required. The aim is to. render the largest possible 
service to girls of widely varying needs. 

Teacher Training. —Girls and boys who are graduated 
from the city high schools still find open to them the door 
of educational opportunity. The Philadelphia Normal 

ft _ 

School for young women and the Philadelphia School of 
Pedagog}" for young men are maintained by the city 
primarily to fit suitable persons for teaching in the 
public schools. A limited number of scholarships, avail¬ 
able in various colleges and universities of the country 
and in certain technical schools like the School of Indus¬ 
trial Art, are also awarded to graduates of high standing. 

The courses of instruction in the teacher-training schools 
are two years in length and of collegiate grade. In both 
schools each student is well trained in general educational 
theory and practice, and also has the opportunity to 
develop special interests and capacities in order to pre¬ 
pare for specialized teaching. For example, a student 
in the Normal School may fit herself for teaching in 
kindergartens, in home economics classes, and in special 
classes for subnormal children. A student in the School 
of Pedagogy may fit himself, through his choice of 
electives, for departmental teaching in English,* in science, 


176 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


or in history and civics. In either school a pupil may 
receive thorough instruction for the teaching of music, 
drawing, and physical training. 

After five years’ experience in grade work qualified 
teachers may pass further examinations and become 
eligible to the position of supervising principal. An 
increasing number of the graduates of the two schools 
are completing the work for college graduation, and 
then passing the necessary examination to qualify them 
for high school instructorships. 

Organization: Board of Public Education,—Now we 
must see how this system is organized to do the great 
work it has to do. In charge of the public schools of 
Philadelphia there is an unpaid Board of Public Educa¬ 
tion, fifteen in number, appointed by the Judges of the 
Courts of Common Pleas, with a secretary who gives all 
his time to the work and is on salary. This Board of 
Education is authorized to exercise powers of legislation 
and general control, leaving to the various executive 
ofiicers the actual detailed administration of affairs. 
There are six standing committees of the board, through 
whom this control is mainly exercised. 

Board of Superintendents.—In immediate charge of 
the schools on the administrative side there is a Board 
of Superintendents, consisting of the Superintendent of 
Schools and five Associate Superintendents, each of the 
associates being responsible for certain phases of the work. 
Besides these there are nine District Superintendents, 
each in charge of one of the nine school districts into 
which the city is divided for administrative purposes. 

Board of Examiners.—Acting with this Board of Super¬ 
intendents’there is a Board of Examiners, consisting of 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


177 


the Superintendent of Schools and a Chief Examiner, 
assisted by the Associate and District Superintendents 
and the principals and heads of departments of the high 
schools, whose examinations furnish the eligible list for 
teachers of the junior and senior secondary schools. This 
board also holds examinations for teachers in the ele¬ 
mentary schools whenever the city normal schools are not 
furnishing an adequate supply. 

Directors of Special Branches.—There are four Direc¬ 
tors of Special Branches: music, art, physical education, 
and kindergartens. Other special branches are in 
charge of Supervisors, under the general oversight of 
some Associate Superintendent. 

Bureau of Compulsory Education.—^A Bureau of Com¬ 
pulsory Education not only watches over school attend¬ 
ance, but also conducts a placement bureau for boys 
and girls fourteen or fifteen years of age. 

Departments of Medical Inspection and of School 
Nurses.—A department of Medical Inspection and one 
of School Nurses complete the staff on the personal side. 

Superintendents of Buildings and of Supplies.—^The 
material side is looked after by a Superintendent of 
Buildings and a Superintendent of Supplies. The 
Superintendent of Buildings prepares the plans for all 
new school buildings, and supervises their construction. 
He also plans and oversees all necessary repairs of schools. 
Further, he supervises the janitorial service, though he 
does not appoint the janitors. The Superintendent of 
Supplies is the purchasing agent for the Board of Educa¬ 
tion of all necessary supplies, which he furnishes to the 
schools as they are needed. 

Board of School Visitors.—In each of the forty-eight 


12 



178 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


wards of the city there is a Board of School Visitors, of 
seven members, whose privilege it is to visit the schools in 
that ward and make recommendations to the central 
Board of Education. They also appoint the school 
janitors, who are then responsible directly to the Super¬ 
intendent of Buildings and not to the local board. 

Pedagogical Library.—As an aid to the teachers in all 
the schools a well-selected reference and circulating 
library is maintained, at a central location, in charge of 
a trained librarian. The library contains some 15,000 
bound volumes, 50 educational periodicals, and 10,000 
lantern slides. Books are distributed among the various 
school districts, as requested. 

Such, in outline, is the modem school system of a 
great American city. Taken as a whole, it would seem 
to compare favorably with the other important fields 
of civic activity. Rightly, it would seem, the Philadel¬ 
phia public school should take the lead in the training of 
our young citizens for lives of usefulness and power in 
the community. 

How the Public School System is Financed.—It costs, 
on the average, about $12,000,000 a year to meet all the 
necessary expenses of this great system of schools. The 
Legislature of 1919 raised the legal tax rate for the school 
district of Philadelphia to a minimum of 6 mills on every 
dollar of property taxable for school purposes, and to a 
maximum of 7 mills for 1920 and of 8 mills for 1921 and 
thereafter. In addition, the school board which raises 
and spends all money for public school purposes, has a 
total borrowing power of 2 per cent of the assessed val¬ 
uation of taxable property. Money raised by loans is, 
however, usually spent only on permanent improvements. 



CHAPTER IX 


Recreation 

The Need for Recreation. —The need for recreation is 
now so well understood and so generally recognized as to 
make discussion unnecessary. Children and adults alike 
feel this human want and try to satisfy it. Labor laws in 
many of our commonwealths and in foreign countries 
are planned to secure it for those who toil at manual 
labor. And both public and private agencies have been 
organized to provide healthful, pleasurable forms of 
recreation. 

Philadelphia is coming to realize more keenly each 
year that it is just as necessary for its citizens to have 
proper recreational facilities as it is to have pure drinking 
w^ater or clean streets. How to bring the country to 
the city is a problem Philadelphia faced years ago, and 
has gone a long way toward solving. And one of its first 
attempts at solution was to begin a great park system. 

Public Parks: Fairmount Park. —Our city has one of 
the largest municipal parks in the world. We are justly 
proud of Fairmount Park, covering more than thirty-five 
hundred acres of land along both banks of the Schuylkill 
River, and including parts of the valleys of the historic 
Wissahickon and Cresheim Creeks. It is under the 
management of the Fairmount Park Commission, com¬ 
posed of prominent citizens appointed by the Court of 
Common Pleas, together with the Mayor and other city 
officials. Besides its wonderful natural beauty, Fair- 

( 179 ) 



180 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


mount Park has many added attractions. Among the 
forms of recreation it offers are boating, canoeing, base¬ 
ball, tennis, bicycling, athletic contests, cross country 
running, hockey, and ice skating. Nothing could be 
more enjoyable or more instructive than a visit to the 
^‘Zoo.’^ Every year 250,000 free tickets of admission are 
distributed to the children in our public schools. Another 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation) 
A DANGEROUS PLAYGROUND 
Thousands of children have no place to play except on the streets. 


attraction is the aquarium, which is situated on the site of 
the old Fairmount Water Works. Memorial Hall with 
its fine art collection, and Horticultural Hall with its 
display of plants from all over the world, are also located 
at Fairmount Park. Too much could not be said about 
the value of the park to the health and pleasure of our 
citizens, but because of its location many of the younger 
children living in the most crowded sections of our great 
city receive little or no benefit from it. 





RECREATION 


181 


By the wills of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Smith, prominent 
citizens of Philadelphia, money was left to construct a 
Children’s Playhouse and Playground in East Fairmount 
Park. Boys over ten years old are excluded. The play¬ 
house is well equipped. A piano, victrola, books, and 



(Courtesy of Fairmount Park Commission) 
A RESTING PLACE IN THE PARK 

games are provided. The second floor is reserved for the 
use of sick children under five years of age, for whom a 
sliding board, rocking horses, blocks, and the like are 
supplied. The adjoining playground is fitted with sand 
piles, swings, giant strides, and seesaws. The large 
wading pool brings enjoyment to many of the smaller boys 
and girls, while the tennis courts are popular with the 
older ones. The money left by Mr. and Mrs. Smith will 





182 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


also be sufficient to build and maintain three other play¬ 
houses, which will be erected in crowded sections of the 
city. 

Other Public Parks.—When William Penn planned 
Philadelphia he was careful to arrange for ^Tour fair 
parks.” Two of these, Franklin and Washington Squares, 
were near the original settlement, but Rittenhouse and 
Logan Squares were on the outskirts of the city. For¬ 
tunately, as the city grew, other breathing spaces were 
provided. Some of our parks and squares are under the 
supervision of the Fairmount Park Commission, while 
others are supervised by the Bureau of City Property of 
the Department of Public Works. The Fairmount 
Park Commission has under its control nineteen parks 
besides Fairmount Park. Among these are Hunting Park, 
Cobbs Creek Park, Pennypack Park, Rittenhouse Square, 
Washington Square, Independence Square, Franklin 
Square, and Logan Square. The Bureau of City Property 
supervises over seventy separate parks and open squares 
located in various sections of the city. Among these are 
Bartram’s Garden and League Island Park. All told, our 
parks cover about six thousand acres. 

A whole chapter could be written telling about the 
charming and interesting things to be seen in some of 
these little parks. For instance, in Bartram’s Garden in 
West Philadelphia one may see the old house where John 
Bartram, the first American botanist, lived. He built 
this house before the Revolutionary War, and it is to be 
opened to the public furnished as nearly as possible as 
it was in Bartram’s time. This park was the famous 
garden in which Bartram cultivated plants of every 
kind. At the other end of the city, in Kensington, there 


RECREATION 


183 


is Penn Treaty Park, so called because it is supposed to 
be on the spot where William Penn met the Indians and 
promised to deal fairly with them in all things. A small 
monument tells the story. Then there is Stenton Park 
in Germantown, where amid lawns and flower gardens is 
a quaint old house where George Washington once visited. 
At Vernon Park in Germantown will be found a most 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation') 
PLAYGROUND IN A SCHOOL YARD 


fascinating collection of old things that people used in 
Germantown back in Revolutionary times. 

Playgrounds. —The difference between parks and play¬ 
grounds is not always understood. A park is public 
property intended as a resting or breathing space, a place 
of natural beauty. Here games may be played, but no 
play director is in charge of the play. A playground is 
any place where organized supervised play is regularly 
carried on. A playground is a beehive of activity and 
fun. There are no ''Keep off the Grass’" signs, but 







184 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

instead there are swings and sliding boards, balls and 
games, swimming and wading pools—everything to make 
boys and girls happy, everything to help them to have a 
good time. Of course, both parks and playgrounds are 
necessary. Park development had an earlier start than 
had the playground movement, and has made splendid 
progress. But as our city has become more and more 
crowded, and as the tendency to live in tenement and 

apartment houses is be¬ 
coming more and more 
noticeable, we realize 
that together wdth our 
fine parks we must pro¬ 
vide playgrounds. These 
playgrounds must be eo 
situated as to be within 
reach of all. In 1907 
some thoughtful men 
and women organized 
the Playgrounds Asso¬ 
ciation of Philadelphia. 
It is supported entirely by private subscriptions. Its pur¬ 
pose is to show the people of our city the benefits of play¬ 
grounds, and it tries by every means possible to improve 
them and to increase the number. It has even secured 
temporary sites and organized playgrounds in order to show 
the public the great need in those particular localities. 

In 1911, through the efforts of the Playgrounds Asso¬ 
ciation, a commission was appointed by the Mayor to 
visit and study playgrounds in other American cities, and 
to report to him what they thought to be the best plan for 
Philadelphia. As a result the Board of Recreation was 










RECREATION 


185 


formed to carry out the plans that had been suggested. 
This board included the Mayor and the head of the former 
Department of Health and Charities, and a number of 
appointed members who served without pay. It was 
the duty of the board to plan and supervise the public 
playgrounds and recreation centers other than those 
occupying property owned by the Board of Education, 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation) 
A SWIMMING POOL AT A EECREATION CENTER 


and also the recreation piers and public bath houses. 
The name recreation center is given when in connection 
with a playground there is a building suitable for gym¬ 
nastic purposes, club rooms and neighborhood meetings. 

The Board of Recreation was abolished by the new 
charter bill of 1919 which created a Department of 
Public Welfare and transferred to it the functions of 
the Board of Recreation, as well as the supervision of 
the city^s charitable, correctional, and reformatory insti¬ 
tutions. The language of the act is as follows:. 







186 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


^^The Department of Public Welfare shall have power 
to create, organize, manage and supervise the various 
playgrounds, recreation centers, municipal floating-baths, 
bathing grounds and recreation piers which may be 
established at the present time, or from time to time 
authorized by Council, or given by private individuals 
and accepted by the city; and to plan and regulate by 
regular reports to the mayor, and, after appropriate 
action by ordinance, to create and develop an adequate 
and complete system of playgrounds and recreation 
centers and related activities.” It is also entrusted with 
the management of public bath-houses connected with 
recreation centers. 

The Board of Education also provides for recreation 
in connection with the schools. In 1917 the Board of 
Education conducted one hundred and thirty-six school 
gardens, supervised a large number of “home gardens” 
and “community lot gardens,” and provided teachers for 
sixteen of the swimming centers. 

Evening Recreation Centers. —In January, 1918, seven¬ 
teen public schools were open at night in order to provide 
recreation for people living near the schools. These 
centers are intended for those above school age. Lectures 
on topics of general interest, musicals, gymnastic lessons, 
dramatic performances, and dances are given. The 
movement for opening the schools to the surrounding 
neighborhoods was begun in 1913. The Board of Educa¬ 
tion provides the heat, light, and janitor service, while 
the Welfare Department is in charge of the various 
activities. The movement to use the schools as neigh¬ 
borhood centers, as places for old and young to gather for 
entertainment and instruction, is growing rapidly in 



RECREATION 


187 


many cities. The Home and School League, a private 
organization which has for its purpose the bringing of 
the home and school into closer relationship, has done 
much to encourage a wider use of the school plant. 
Through it more than sixty associations have been formed, 
which hold meetings in school buildings at various times 
throughout the year. The attendance at these meetings 
is anywhere from one hundred to one thousand. 

Athletic Recreation Park.—The discussion of play¬ 
grounds and recreation 
centers would be sadly 
incomplete without a de¬ 
scription of Athletic 
Recreation Park at 
Twenty-seventh and 
Jefferson Streets. This 
center was opened No¬ 
vember 1, 1913. It is 
one of the most modern 
and best equipped in the 
Eastern States. The 
building itself is very attractive. It has two gymnasiums, 
one for men and boys, the other for women and girls. 
The first floor contains a social lobby or reception room, 
and six large rooms for games and reading. A circulating 
library of about one hundred books is open from five 
to six o’clock. On the second floor is a splendid audi¬ 
torium seating five hundred people. Here plays are given 
every Saturday evening during the indoor season. 
Adjoining the auditorium are four club rooms, one having 
a kitchenette to be used when refreshments are served. 
In the basement are located shower baths and dressing 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation ) 

A SWIMMING LESSON AT A 
RECREATION CENTER 





188 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


rooms, as well as several large play and club rooms. This 
building may be used by the younger children during the 
day, but in the evening it is open only for the older boys 
and girls and for men and women. 

The playground is large and is furnished with all kinds 
of apparatus. There is a fine tennis court and even a 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation) 
A WADING POOL AT A RECREATION CENTER 


wading pool for the little children. Probably the most 
popular feature of the center is the large swimming pool 
which is open during the summer months. On Tuesday 
and Friday it is open to women and girls and on the 
other days of the week the men and boys use it. The 
center publishes monthly a paper called the Athletic 
Recreation Park Booster^ telling of all the interesting 
events that have taken place during the past month. 





RECREATION 


189 


What a contrast to the little dirty-faced, barefooted boy 
playing in the gutter or shooting craps in some dark 
alley, is the happy-faced boy at an athletic center splash¬ 
ing in the wading pool or pitching quoits. The police 
lieutenant reports that arrests of persons under twenty- 
one years of age in this district have been reduced one- 
half since the center has been opened. 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 
RACE STREET PIER 


The upper part of this pier is used for recreation. 

Play Streets. —Philadelphia has made remarkable prog- 
gress in providing public recreation centers and play¬ 
grounds for her boys and girls, but much remains to be 
done. Few neighborhoods are properly supplied. More¬ 
over, the centers have not been well distributed. By 
this is meant that in some of the more crowded sections 
of our city there are considerably fewer playgrounds than 
in other sections where there are not nearly so many 
people. It must be remembered that little children can- 







190 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


not go very far away from home. To serve them, the 
playground must be within easy walking distance. 
Because there are not sufficient playgrounds to meet the 
demand, two play streets have been opened. In the 
summer season all traffic is banished from these streets 
during certain hours of the day, and they are given over 
entirely to the children. 

The Free Library of Philadelphia.—Nothing helps one 



{Courtesy of Mr. Horace Trumbauer) 
THE NEW CENTRAL FREE LIBRARY 

to forget about himself, his work, and his troubles like a 
trip to bookland. Through the pages of some interesting 
book he is carried far away into another world. He may 
become intimately acquainted with the great men and 
women who have lived before him; he may travel over 
unknown seas into regions of beauty and of wonder. He 
may exchange his narrow and coixmionplace thoughts and 
ideas for the broad, uplifting thoughts and ideas of some 
great poet or novelist. Although most people like to 
read, very few possess enough books to satisfy their 











RECREATION 


191 


desire. The city authorities therefore feel it their duty to 
provide public libraries to which the people can go for 
good books of every description. 

The Free Library of Philadelphia was established under 
a charter granted in February, 1891. It is under the 
control of a Board of Trustees composed of the Mayor, 
the president of the City Council, and a number of 
appointed members. The expenses of the library are 
met through an annual appropriation by Council to the 
Mayor, and through money bequeathed by individuals. 
The Free Library System consists of the Main Library at 
Thirteenth and Locust Streets and twenty-six branches, 
twenty of which occupy buildings erected from Mr. 
Andrew Carnegie’s gift to the city of $1,500,000 for 
thirty branch buildings. In all the buildings together 
there are over half a million volumes, in sixty-five different 
languages, and more than two hundred thousand pamph¬ 
lets. The department for the blind in connection with 
the Pennsylvania Home Teaching Society, located at 
204 South Thirteenth Street, is a wonderful help in pro¬ 
viding recreation for a large group of unfortunate people to 
whom so many other avenues of recreation are closed. 
Those who wish to use their leisure time in the study of 
music may secure text books and music books through the 
Department of Music. Many people who cannot afford 
to buy magazines have an opportunity of enjoying them 
through the Periodical Department, which keeps on file 
over twelve hundred current magazines. Free lectures 
are given and story-hours held for children in the branch 
lecture rooms. 

The plans for the future include the erection of ten 
additional branch buildings under Mr. Carnegie’s gift, 


192 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


some to take the place of buildings that are at present 
rented, and others to be located in neighborhoods which 
have as yet no library facilities. Most important of 
all, on Saturday, May 12, 1917, ground was broken for 
the new Main Building on the Parkway, facing Logan 
Square. This should in no way interfere with the branch 
libraries which serve the great mass of our people. This 
beautiful building, so long waited for, will furnish safe 
and sufiiciently large quarters for the preservation and 
proper use of the great collection of rare and valuable 
books now owned by our Free Library, and for any col¬ 
lections we may acquire in the future. To it scholars 
from all parts of the city and elsewhere,can go for reference 
material, documents, and books that could not possibly be 
placed in the smaller libraries. 

Museums and Art Galleries. —Those interested in 
works of art, curios, relics, and exhibitions of all kinds 
would enjoy a visit to Memorial Hall in Fainnount 
Park, in which is located the Pennsylvania Museum. 
Here are exhibited works of art of every description. It 
was first of all intended to show the relation of art to 
industry. Many of the collections have been given or 
loaned by unselfish individuals who have felt that these 
treasures should be placed where every one might see and 
enjoy them. This museum was established in 1876 ^Hor 
the State of Pennsylvania in the city of Philadelphia, a 
Museum of Art in all its branches.’’ In the next year, 
in connection with the Pennsylvania Museum, the Penn¬ 
sylvania School of Industrial Art was established ^Ho 
provide instruction in drawing, painting, modeling, 
designing, etc.” It is said that the Pennsylvania Museum 
is visited by 500,000 people each year. 


RECREATION 


193 


Every Saturday afternoon during the winter, free 
lectures are given at the Museum of the University of 
Pennsylvania by prominent speakers. These are both 
interesting and valuable, and are well attended. 

The Philadelphia or Commercial Museum, situated on 
Thirty-fourth Street below Spruce, contains many val¬ 
uable collections which illustrate the production and com¬ 
merce of all nations. Series of illustrated lectures are 
given here each year. There are also other smaller 
museums, among which ought to be mentioned the one 
in connection with Burholme Park. By the will of 
John G. Johnson, the noted lawyer who died in April, 
1917, his magnificent art collection was bequeathed to the 
city, together with the Johnson mansion on South Broad 
Street, which will become a public museum. The city 
was most fortunate, since the collection is said to be one 
of the finest in the world. The citizens of Philadelphia 
are looking forward with a great deal of interest to the 
erection of the Museum of Art,’’ which will be one of 
the features of the Parkway. 

Band Concerts and Parades. —Much pleasure is derived 
from the band concerts that are given, especially in sum¬ 
mer time, in the public parks and squares. Sometimes a 
portion of a street like Broad Street is roped off and the 
young men and women are given an opportunity to dance. 
This form of public entertainment seems to be growing in 
popularity. Some are of the opinion that if more so-called 
supervised dancing” were encouraged, the cheap dance 
halls would soon go out of business. 

Everyone knows how much parades are enjoyed, not 
only by the children but by grown people as well. Broad 
Street is a wonderful avenue for this purpose. We have 


13 


194 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


all kinds of parades in our city. Once a year the police¬ 
men and firemen and street cleaners parade. There are 
numerous parades of civilian organizations. The New 
Year’s parade is very popular. Much of the expense of 
this pageant is borne by private associations, but the 
city offers many prizes. 

Motion Pictures.—Many forms of recreation are pro¬ 
vided by private agencies as a means of making money. 
To this group belong the moving picture shows, theatrical 
performances, operas, and circuses. The ^^movies’’ are 
by far the most popular. It is claimed that more than 
a fourth of the spectators are children. Because the 
^ ^movies” are so attractive to children the State has had 
to make a law forbidding their attendance during school 
hours. 

The community exercises some supervision over the 
character of the films exhibited, through a State Board 
of Moving Picture Censors. Much that is objectionable 
is eliminated in this way, but public opinion does not 
always support the board, so that much that is question¬ 
able still appears. The educational and recreational 
value of the higher type of moving pictures is, of course, 
generally recognized. 

Public Dance Halls.—To protect the young people of 
the community who love dancing, the law requires that 
every public dance hall must be licensed by the Mayor 
after the proprietor has complied with health and safety 
regulations. The police must inspect them, see that 
improper conduct is not permitted, that young people 
under sixteen are not present after nine in the evening, 
and that the halls are closed at one hour after midnight. 

Clubs and Associations.—^There are many associations 


RECREATION 


195 


in the city supported by individuals who are interested in 
providing the right kind of recreation for those who need 
it most. The College Settlement, at 433 Christian Street 
and 502 S. Front Street, is a place where college women 
live and conduct a kind of club house and recreation center 



{Courtesy of the Board of Recreation) 
FUN AT A SWIMMING POOL 


for thepeopleof the neighborhood. Among the recreational 
activities provided by the settlement may be mentioned 
the summer play yards, shower baths, occupation clubs, 
basket-ball clubs, and dancing classes. Some of these are 
for children, others for grown people. Not all of the ac¬ 
tivities are recreational; for instance, they carry on a sav¬ 
ings bank and engage in many forms of educational work. 





196 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Activities similar to these of the College Settlement are 
carried on at the University Settlement, located at 
Twenty-sixth and Lombard Streets; at the Light House 
in Kensington; at the Southwark Neighborhood House, 
101 Ellsworth Street, and at a number of other centers 
also made possible by private contributors. 

Probably no private organization does more to bring 
real joy and sunshine into the lives of the children of the 
poor than does the Children's Country Week Association, 
with headquarters at 1602 Arch Street. This association 
provides real vacations, lasting a week or longer, for 
several thousand adults and children who otherwise 
would have to remain in the hot city all summer. Ten 
thousand more are entertained for a day in the country. 
One little girl who was about to start for ^'Paradise Farm*' 
for a week’s outing was heard to say, ‘‘Vm looking for a 
teacher to take me to the free country, where you get 
everything for nothing.” How many little hearts have 
been gladdened, how many little bodies strengthened, 
through the vacation provided by the Country Week 
Association! 

Clubs of every variety and description for boys and 
girls, young men and women, which afford many oppor¬ 
tunities for enjoyment, have been organized in our city. 
It would be impossible to mention all of them. We can 
take the Germantown Boys’ Club, at 25 West Penn 
Street, as an example. This club, one of the finest of its 
kind in the United States, is supported by private con¬ 
tributions. It aims to make good citizens of the boys, 
keeping them from doing that which is wrong by giving 
them all kinds of things to do that are right. Among the 
attractions are a supervised playground, which is illumi^ 


RECREATION 


197 


nated at night, a large open-air swimming pool, which is 
reserved at certain times for girls, and an athletic field. 
The club house contains a splendid gymnasium and a 
number of recreation and club rooms. In the summer a 
camp is conducted at Ocean City. 

The organization, which has done more probably than 
any other in the way of encouraging boys over twelve 
years of age to make proper use of their leisure time, is 
the Boy Scout Organization. As is well known, there are 
Boy Scouts in almost every large country in the world. 
The idea of brotherhood is emphasized, and it is hoped 
that this movement will help to promote world democracy. 
Those who care to know more about it should read the 
Boy Scout Manual. Outdoor life is encouraged. The 
boys take hikes and camping trips; they are taught to 
build camp fires, to prepare the meals for the camp, to 
swim, and to do dozens of other things that every boy 
enjoys. 

Corresponding in a way to the Boy Scouts we have the 
Girl Scouts, and the Camp Fire Girls. Through these 
organizations girls are taught, among other things, ways 
of using their leisure time that are profitable as well as 
pleasurable. 

Recreational Activities of the Churches.—There is 
scarcely a church in our city that does not give at least 
occasional concerts, moving picture entertainments, or 
organ recitals. But frequently these entertainments are 
enjoyed only by the members of that particular church, 
who are probably less in need of amusement than are the 
many whom the church should and could reach were it 
made clear that the entertainment was intended for any¬ 
one who wanted an evening’s enjoyment. Some few 


198 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


of the churches have what are called parish buildings/^ 
which are not unlike the recreation centers that we have 
heard about. Many pastors are beginning to realize the 
great need for amusement of the right sort. These men 
want to reach and help anyone and everyone. But we 
do not need to be reminded that many of our churches are 
dark and silent at least five nights out of seven. What was 
said concerning the wider use of the school buildings also 
applies to church buildings. 

The Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., and Y. M. H. A.—Too 

much could not be said in praise of the service rendered 
young men and women by the Young Men’s Christian 
Association, the Y'oung Women’s Christian Association, 
and the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. These 
associations have branches throughout the country. All 
kinds of amusements and recreational activities are 
offered, as well as educational courses and lectures. 

A Look into the Future. —We have every reason to 
believe that the cities of the future, realizing that ^^an 
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” will be 
spending far less money on the up-keep of courts, prisons, 
and reformatories and far more on parks, playgrounds, 
swimming pools, municipal theaters, and concert halls. 
No doubt in almost every city there will eventually be a 
department of public recreation, which will be considered 
as necessary and important as a department of public 
safety or a department of public works. 


CHAPTER X 


City Planning 

Penn’s Plan.—When William Penn and the Quakers 
first came up the Delaware Bay and river they were 
seeking a good site for a town. The spot where Philadel¬ 
phia now stands was selected for two reasons: because it 
is here that the Schuylkill flows into the Delaware, and 
because this site is the first stretch of high ground to be 
found in ascending the river. The choice proved to be a 
very wise one. The two rivers gave the great stretch of 
water front which has made Philadelphia one of the fore¬ 
most commercial cities of the United States; moreover, 
the high land gave a healthful, well-drained location. 

Penn made what seemed then an ambitious plan for 
his little city. It was laid out to extend from South 
Street to Vine between the two rivers. There was to 
be one main street running from the Delaware to the 
Schuylkill. This was High, now Market, Street. Then 
about midway between the two rivers there was to be a 
north and south street at right angles to Market Street. 
This was Broad Street. Each was to be about one 
hundred feet wide. All the other streets were to be 
fifty feet wide and parallel to one or the other of these 
two. Penn planned for five little parks in the space 
between the two rivers. They are now Franklin, Wash¬ 
ington, Logan, Rittenhouse, and Penn Squares. Penn 
Square, now occupied by the City Hall, was formerly 
called Center Square. He intended that Philadelphia 

( 199 ) 


200 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


should be a ^Taire greene country towne.’^ By this he 
meant that there should be trees growing along the 
streets, yards around the houses, and parks among the 
blocks of dwellings. 

We are grateful to our founder for the good points 
in his plan. He was the true idealist, desiring for his 



people not only a haven from persecution in this virgin 
land, but also a home which was satisfying in its 
beauty. Forest and meadow were not to be replaced by 
dingy and narrow streets like those of the London he 
knew. He would ^^Let brotherly love continue’’ amidst 
gardens and shaded avenues. His two broad streets 
are still our main thoroughfares, proving none too 
ample in these days of dense population. Four of his 


























































































































CITY PLANNING 


201 


five squares remain, and are valued breathing spaces in 
the heart of the city. 

The Faults of Penn’s Plan.—Few cities were so well 
planned as Philadelphia in early times, but we can now 
see three serious faults in the original scheme. William 
Penn mapped all streets running north and south or east 
and west, on the gridiron plan,” to give the city an 
appearance of order and regularity. The map resembles a 
checkerboard. The effect was ugly and monotonous. 
Traffic was hindered, for movement in a diagonal direction 
had to be accomplished by going around two sides of a 
triangle. The original plan of the City of Washington, 
which was made a century later in 1791, was quite 
different. Major L’Enfant, the French engineer engaged 
to make the designs for the new capital of our country, 
took the Capitol and the White House as focal points 
for his scheme and made a group of spacious avenues 
radiate from each like the spokes of a wheel. Pennsyl¬ 
vania Avenue connected the two centers. The intermedi¬ 
ate streets were on the gridiron plan, but were intersected 
by the radial avenues. As the city grew, other centers 
were to be established with other diagonal streets, so that 
every part of the city would be connected with the rest by 
direct routes. Where the avenues crossed, open spaces 
were naturally created, which were used as small parks. 
The streets of Washington are very wide, and splendid set¬ 
tings are provided for the fine public buildings. The plan 
of Major L^Enfant has been in the main adhered to up to 
the present time, and is considered the most complete and 
artistic city system ever carried out. Other cities are now 
adopting, so far as they can, the ideas of wide diagonal ave¬ 
nues and park spaces, both for beauty and for convenience. 


202 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


A second mistake in Penn^s plan was that of making 
the streets too narrow for modern times, so that now 
traffic is impeded and only a one-way single track trolley 
line can be laid on most of the streets. Chestnut Street, 
for instance, is becoming almost impassable for vehicles. 
The city before long will have to go to the expense and 
trouble of tearing down buildings to widen some of the 
streets in the business section. 

A third thing which proved a mistake was making the 
city blocks so large that as population grew and land 
values increased, the temptation was great to cut them 
up by many small streets and alleys. This was an invita¬ 
tion to bad housing conditions. Many people think that 
Philadelphia has no housing problem because we have 
few high tenement houses like New York. A very little 
observation will show that this is a false view of the 
situation. In the older parts of the city we find in the 
center of the large blocks many small houses built on the 
rear of the lots of the houses which front on the streets. 
These houses are reached only by alleys and narrow courts. 
There is very little light, and the air cannot circulate 
through. In summer time they are insufferable, and the 
inhabitants are obliged to sleep on the roofs or the pave¬ 
ments. People are crowded together, often several 
families in a house meant for one, under very bad sani¬ 
tary conditions. Such conditions encourage disease and 
crime. It is the business of the planners of our city to 
see that they are made impossible. 

Penn’s original plan applied, of course, only to the 
little city of his day. After his time other settlements 
sprang up nearby, such as Germantown, Manayunk, 
Southwark, and Frankford. As time went on the coun- 


CITY PLANNING 


203 


try between these villages and Philadelphia was settled, 
and it became evident that a far larger city had really 
grown up around the City of Penn, In 1854 the Act of 
Consolidation was passed by the Pennsylvania Legis¬ 
lature which incorporated twenty-eight surrounding bor¬ 
oughs and districts with the city proper. This gave 
to the City of Philadelphia the same boundaries as the 
county of the same name. These outside villages had 
not been planned at all, and an effort had to be made to 
connect the main streets of the city with those of the new 
districts. 

In both the original city and the districts new streets 
were opened with no thought of lining them with trees, 
the yard space of the older houses was largely covered 
with buildings, and there were many solid blocks of 
houses without any land being set aside for parks. So 
Penn’s ‘Taire greene country towne” became an ugly 
crowded city. 

Philadelphia’s Present Plans.—Philadelphia must have 
many things to make it a beautiful, healthful, and con¬ 
venient city to live in. The work of tearing down build¬ 
ings and widening streets involves so much expense and 
inconvenience, and it is so important that mistakes in the 
future development of the city should be avoided, that 
the changes to be made must be carefully planned as a 
whole. Every progressive American city at the present 
time has a group of experts making designs for the city’s 
present improvement and future development. We call 
this work “city planning.” 

It was in 1909 that a group of representative citizens 
came together at the request of the Mayor and authorized 
him to appoint a committee to study all the plans thpJQ 


204 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


in existence for the improvement of the city. The sug¬ 
gestions which had been made from time to time by 
enthusiastic citizens were collected, and elaborate and 
beautiful designs were prepared by competent engineers 
in 1911. In 1912 the Permanent Committee on Com¬ 
prehensive Plans was appointed to continue the work. 



A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW FROM LEMON HILL, FAIRMOUNT PARK 

It is to be hoped that the park treatment of the banks of the Schuylkill may be con¬ 
tinued south of the Spring Garden Street bridge by the construction of the Schuy lki ll 
embankments. 


Under the revised charter of 1919 the city is given the 
power to create by ordinance a City Planning Com¬ 
mission which will undertake a definite but complete 
job of preparing a plan for Philadelphia. It is contem¬ 
plated that when this is done, and the plan has been 
approved by the Council, the carrying out of the plan 
will be vested in a division of the Bureau of Surveys of 





CITY PLANNING 


205 


the Department of Public Works. The plans of the 
Permanent Committee have been changed in many 
respects since 1912, and so we shall consider them as 
they are at present. 

The ideal of the committee has been “a more healthy, 
convenient, prosperous and beautiful Philadelphia.’^ 
To secure these aims they had to consider the free and 
quick movement of traffic to and from the center of the 
city, the provision of suitable areas for business and 
residence, the opening of the river shores to more sea¬ 
going ships, the location of railroad terminals, more open 
park and plaza spaces, and artistic buildings properly 
situated. 

1. Traffic Circuit and Radial Avenues. —Philadelphia’s 
area is very large in proportion to its population, and a 
great part of the people spread out over its 1293^ square 
miles want to go into the middle of the city every day. 
So City Hall becomes the center of many great streams 
of traffic. Recent years have seen an enormous increase 
in motor traffic, both of automobiles and of delivery 
trucks. The Superintendent of Police estimated in 
1918 that 50,000 motor cars entered the central part 
of the city every day. Thus our old-fashioned narrow 
streets are in some places becoming so crowded as to 
be almost impassable. 

It is fortunate that our two chief streets. Broad Street 
and Market Street, were made fairly wide in the begin¬ 
ning. Fortunately too, Philadelphia has a few radial 
avenues, such as Ridge, Baltimore, and Passyunk Avenues. 
We have these, not because they were planned, but 
because they were originally country roads leading out 
from the little city to surrounding villages. They are 


206 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


always crowded with wagons and automobiles, for they 
offer shorter cuts to many places than the regular streets. 

It is planned to improve these existing avenues, open 
others, and join them to a central traffic circuit. This 
would mean the widening of four streets so as to form a 
large rectangle in the center of the city—Seventh, Locust, 
Nineteenth, and Vine Streets. With this arrangement 
some of the east and west traffic could be shifted from 
Market Street to Locust and Vine Streets, and some of 
the north and south traffic from Broad Street to Seventh 
and Nineteenth Streets. Thus the delay and crowding 
around City Hall would be relieved. These wide thorough¬ 
fares would connect the four central squares, Washing¬ 
ton, Rittenhouse, Logan, and Franklin. The district 
enclosed in this rectangle is the natural business center 
of the city. It is filling rapidly with great hotels, 
banks, and stores. Traffic into it and out from it is bound 
to increase very rapidly. 

Then there are to be radial avenues, branching off 
at the corners of the rectangle, which would shorten 
the time necessary to make trips from the outlying parts 
of the city to the center, and relieve crowding in the 
narrow streets. From Franklin Square we should have 
Ridge Avenue running across the city in a northwesterly 
direction, skirting the Schuylkill to Manayunk. Another 
radial avenue has been planned from the same point 
in a* northeasterly direction to the Delaware. This is 
called the Richmond-Aramingo route. From Ritten¬ 
house Square we should have a diagonal street leading 
in a southwesterly direction, if we cut through Gray^s 
Ferry Road from South Street to Locust. Finally, from 
Logan Square we should have our finest diagonal street 


CITY PLANNING 


207 


of all, the Parkway. This runs from City Hall to Fair- 
mount Park in a northwesterly direction, and is rapidly 
being completed. Unlike the other radial avenues, 
which will be chiefly business streets, the Parkway 
is to be the civic center of Philadelphia, lined with 
trees and magnificent public buildings. 

When the Parkway and its buildings are completed, 
we shall be able to stand at the northwest corner of 
City Hall and look across the open Plaza, along the 



Drawn by J. Greher. {Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 

DESIGN FOR THE PARKWAY LOOKING NORTHWEST 


Parkway to the tall trees in Logan Square. On the 
left will be the new Pennsylvania Railroad Station prob¬ 
ably moved back beyond Fifteenth Street, leaving the 
space where it now stands as a part of the open Plaza. 
Then will come the Bell Telephone Building, and beyond 
that the Wills Hospital and the Academy of Natural 
Sciences. On the right will be the buildings of the 
United Gas Improvement Company, the Young Men’s 
Christian Association, and possibly a new building for 
one of the departments of the municipal government. 

If, on that future day, we walk to Eighteenth Street 














208 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


we shall find the Parkway cut through Logan Square 
and the square much enlarged by the addition of land 
on the south. In the center of the square the driveway 
will divide, making a great circle about a central monu¬ 
ment. Beyond the square the Parkway widens out 
from 140 to 250 feet, and from there we may look between 
the double rows of trees bordering the wide avenue to 
the great white marble Art Gallery with its pillared porches 
in the Greek style, crowning the hill called ^^Fairmount,’’ 
which blocks the end of the Parkway. On the right at 
Logan Square we shall see the Roman Catholic Cathedral, 
while at Nineteenth Street will stand the magnificent 
Public Library. At Twenty-first Street there will 
probably be a large Convention Hall where national 
gatherings may meet, and at Twenty-third Street the 
new Episcopal Cathedral. On the left, beyond Logan 
Square, will be seen the Palace of Justice’^ to house 
the city courts, and the new home of the Franklin .Insti¬ 
tute, one of the city’s famous scientific societies. Possibly 
the Commercial Museum will have a place there also. 

It is hoped that all of these new buildings will be of 
light stone or marble, in the classic style, and that they 
will be set at a distance from each other with trees and 
grass between. When the Parkway is completed it will 
be one of the great streets of the world. 

2. Local Civic Centers .—The Parkway will be the 
civic center for the whole city, but in a community of 
so large an area as ours there should be many minor 
centers. If in each neighborhood the branch library, 
the public school, the recreation center, the sub-station 
of the post-office, and other public buildings front on a 
public square and are of harmonious design, each one 


CITY PLANNING 


209 


will show to greater advantage and the whole neighbor¬ 
hood will be benefited. All of these smaller public 
buildings which have been built in recent years are a 
credit to the city. The Carnegie branch libraries are 
all different, but each of a handsome modern type. The 
new school buildings, which should be next to the libraries, 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 
A LOCAL CIVIC CENTER 


Perspective northwest from Passyunk Avenue, Gibson Avenue, and Sixty-eighth 
Street, showing suggested radial avenues and park spaces. 

are so splendid that the Board of Education has some¬ 
times been criticized as extravagant. But where could 
it be more fitting to set examples of beauty, spaciousness, 
and good taste than in these colleges of the people’’ 
where the rising generation will have its ideals shaped? 
One of these new schools forms the best part of a civic 
center.” If, according to the new ideas of the use of 
the school house, it is open all the time for the use of the 
parents as well as the children, it becomes the logical 


14 







210 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


place for neighborhood gatherings. One of the best 
of the civic centers which has been suggested will be 
located at the intersection of Passyunk Avenue, Gibson 
Avenue, and Sixty-eighth Street in southwest Phila¬ 
delphia. 

3. New Type of Street Plans .—The local civic centers 
will be naturally developed as a result of the plans for 
laying out new streets now being used by the Bureau of 
Surveys. In the undeveloped sections of the city advan¬ 
tage is taken of the existing radial avenues, such as 
Gray’s Ferry Road and Passyunk Avenue, and corre¬ 
sponding new radial avenues are mapped crossing the 
north and south streets. Where radial avenues cross 
each other there will be a circle or a park, which is a 
natural place for a civic center. (See illustrations on 
pages 209 and 246.) 

The very long block, intersected by alleys and back 
streets, which has been a bad feature of the old street 
plans, is being avoided. The shorter block gives more 
large streets and consequently more light and air for 
the houses. Builders generally take advantage of the 
opportunity to put up houses of the new type, with 
grass-plots and porches in front and yards at the rear 
enclosed by open iron railings instead of the hideous 
high board fences once so common. A whole block of 
these open yards, with grass and flowers, makes a very 
attractive view. 

All streets are wider than in the older sections. The 
city has a force of men constantly at work planting the 
residence streets with trees. The same kind of tree is 
planted for several blocks and all are cared for alike. 
If flowering trees were planted, the effect would be 


CITY PLANNING 


211 


especially beautiful. Rochester, New York, has a famous 
street planted with pink magnolias. One of our suburban 
towns is lining its streets with white dogwood trees. 

Where new areas are being developed the Bureau of 
Surveys sometimes adopts a plan of parked intermediate 
streets. Before a builder undertakes a new operation 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 

A NEIGHBORHOOD BREATHING PLACE 

The Bureau of Surveys succeeded in persuading the owners of this tract to give this 
little neighborhood square to the city. 


the bureau has to plan the new streets needed. The 
builder is then persuaded to set aside a small park space 
in the center of his land. The city assumes control 
of this and promises to give it perpetual care. The 
first of these to be finished was Ringgold Square. 

In the center of the city, where the narrow streets 
have become so congested, it is very necessary that some 
means should be taken to widen them. This is very 
difficult where the buildings are already erected. Some' 










212 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


years ago an ordinance of Councils required that when 
any new building was erected on Chestnut, Arch, or 
Walnut Street in the business section, or any building 
was altered, the front must be placed five feet further 
back than before. This results in a very ragged building 
line at present, but will finally end in a great improve¬ 
ment. 

4. Bridges .—The viaducts which carry the tracks of 
the railroads over the city streets were formerly thought 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys') 

BRIDGE OF NEWTOWN BRANCH OVER THIRD STREET 
An example of a beautiful and dignified bridge. Design approved by Art Jury. 


a necessary evil, and only strength was considered in 
their construction. The recent policy of the city has 
been to make all bridges ornaments instead of mere 
obstructions to the view. One of the best of the smaller 
bridges is the viaduct which carries the Philadelphia 
and Newtown Railroad over Third Street. Our most 
picturesque bridge is the one which carries Walnut Lane 
over the valley of the Wissahickon, rising 147 feet above 
the bed of the stream in a single arch. 

5. The Boulevards .—Two fine avenues included in 





















CITY PLANNING 


213 


the comprehensive plans have already been completed. 
The Northeast Boulevard runs from Broad Street at 
Hunting Park in a northeasterly direction for seven miles, 
and forms part of the Lincoln Highway between Phila¬ 
delphia and New York. It is a triple roadway, bordered 
by grass-plots and trees. Winding over the hills, it 
crosses two lovely little valleys, Tacony Creek Park 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys) 
SCENE ON THE NORTHEAST BOULEVARD 


and Pennypack Creek Park, and opens up a new region 
for suburban homes. Several branches of the Boulevard 
have been planned. 

On the south. Broad Street has been widened into a 
boulevard running from Oregon Avenue to League Island 
Park. The northern entrance from Broad Street is 
formed by the Plaza. This is a sort of park lying between 
Oregon Avenue and Bigler Street and Thirteenth and 
Fifteenth Streets. A part of this area is enclosed by a 






214 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


balustrade, within which there are walks and grass- 
covered spaces. The Boulevard runs through the center 
and is here 70 feet wide. From the Plaza southward 
to League Island Park the Boulevard is 300 feet wide, 
and consists of a central driveway and two service drive¬ 
ways, the remaining space being used for footways and 
tree and lawn areas. 

6. Park System .—Philadelphia began an extensive 
park system in 1828 by starting to acquire the lands 
along the Schuylkill for park purposes. Beautiful 
Fairmount Park, the city’s largest playground, is the 

t 

result of this wise policy. 

Up to the year 1888 Philadelphia had in all its vast 
area only sixteen small parks. In that year the City 
Parks Association was founded and began its efforts 
towards saving vacant tracts in districts which were 
being built up. In some cases land was presented by 
the owners, in some cases it was bought by the city for 
park purposes. Largely because of the work of this 
association, the number of small parks has now increased 
to over ninety. The addition of small parks is now a 
settled policy of the city government. 

The city plan includes the increase of the number of 
parks on the borders of Philadelphia and their connec¬ 
tion with each other and with Fairmount Park by wide 
tree-planted boulevards. Boston, Chicago, and Kansas 
City lead all American cities in the development of 
what is called a '^Park System.” We shall not be at 
all behind when our plans are carried out. 

Philadelphia has many beautiful little streams running 
through picturesque valleys near its outer boundaries, 
and many of these have been set aside as parks. In 


CITY PLANNING 


215 



Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys. 

THE PARK SYSTEM 


— or^ Twe-- 

PARK SYSTEM 

-OF- 

PHILADELPHIA 

AS IT EXISTED Ifl 

- 1915 - 


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tt'ONTkItiO HKK 

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» nwtfOCN Mk. 

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»-(l«Ker4Cl H CUKK 

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4l-8lA(K OAK ««0D} 

41 ftARTKAM) biUM 
4} lCKn«6Nl ^aKk 
4A-4<RAaOPAtK 
U-MifPtiN MoUt 

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4^(llV£Pln PAKX 
tA-«ATeKVICW PAHA 

•> vcRnOn PaKk 
W PtOfltR Park 

11- 1M}TC*) WOOOi 
U-«AJteRP«)T park 
W-HUtAfiT UMILTON PiMtPiAU 
W-wOTMORtLANO MUARC 
fl'Mtpnt*^ MuARt 

M AiLtOneWv MUARI 
tf-nARR«w6ATe Park 
14-wOMRATn Park 
M- wniTlflAiL COHMOnV 
M-»iUT0n PARK 


•I XWKI tlTOUtAPAA* 
t) «ul{iifAta 


A beginning has been made in securing the valleys of the nvers and creeks for parks. 
In spite of the fact that Philadelphia has nearly one hundred parks, more breathing spaces 
are needed in the crowded parts of the city. 



















216 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

West Philadelphia there is Cobb^s Creek Park, and 
toward the northeastern part of the city there are Penny- 
pack and Tacony Creek Parks, not to forget the beautiful 
Wissahickon which joins Fairmount Park. More of 
these valley lands should be purchased by the city in 
the next few years, or the real estate men will buy them, 


{Courtesy of Commissioners of Fairmount Park") 
A 'CITY BEAUTY SPOT 

chop down the beautiful trees, and start to erect rows of 
brick houses. It has been calculated that it is actually 
cheaper for the city to buy the little valley creeks on our 
borders and keep them as parks than to go to the expense 
of filling in the land to the level of the streets around 
them. 

7. Transportation, —Boulevards, radial avenues, and 
traffic circuits will be great aids to motor traffic, which 
is assuming such importance in all modem cities; but 




CITY PLANNING 


217 


the greater number of the vast throng which pours 
into the center of the city every morning and out again 
every night travel by street car or by train. Since the 
comprehensive plans were first drawn up a thorough 
study has been made of our transportation problems, 
plans have been adopted, and construction started. 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Perries) 
HOW LAND IS BEING MADE 

Mud is taken from the river and pumped into the bulkhead to build out the shore. 


So vital does this matter seem that a whole chapter 
has been devoted to the subject. (Chapter IX.) 

8. Water Fronts .—study of the map of Philadelphia 
will show that we have a remarkably long water front. 
The Schuylkill is navigable for large boats only as far 
as the Walnut Street Bridge, but its upper course is 
useful for water power. The whole Delaware front is 
available for sea-going vessels. Few cities in the world 
have such an opportunity for the building of docks and 
wharves. 









218 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


When the Committee on Comprehensive Plans made 
its first report, great emphasis was laid upon the 
development of the water front. It was recommended 
that the city build municipal docks and secure the re¬ 
arrangement of railway lines in South Philadelphia, so 
as to serve better in the distribution of freight arriving 
at and leaving the piers. 

The Committee further suggested that the project 
of a wide commercial avenue along the Delaware, which 

had been considered ever 
since the time of Stephen 
Girard, be carried out 
without delay. More 
than four miles of this 
has now been com¬ 
pleted, extending from 
Hoyt Street on the ex¬ 
treme south to Fair- 
mount Avenue. Struc¬ 
tures along the water’s 
edge were removed and a 
paved road from 100 to 250 feet wide constructed. It 
was odd that $500,000 of the expense came from a bequest 
left by Girard for the purpose in 1831. This improve¬ 
ment is to be continued all the way to the city limit at 
Poquessing Creek. The northern portion, from Tacony 
upwards, is to be a boulevard passing the city property 
at Holmesburg and Torresdale, where the bank of the 
river is occupied by the Torresdale filtration works, 
the House of Correction, and the Home for the Indigent. 
When Delaware Avenue is finished it will extend for 
seventeen miles, from League Island to Poquessing Creek. 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks 
and Ferries) 

WHEEL FOR BREAKING UP MUD 








CITY PLANNING 


219 





iiWMHaiilii 


SS£SH§SSfeB^^Kl 

iBii.’Sai'iiliSi 

Bag^MatstWMigaatitg^iea agj 


v'TTiiiiif SSI m aatis iisssiisiwii a 










liiiiPi 


The city planners devoted the Delaware bank chiefly 
to business. Its beauty was to consist in a broad, well- 
paved thoroughfare and well-built docks. The new 
municipal docks set a high standard by their dignified 
and handsome style, which is being copied by the cor¬ 
porations which erect new docks. The Committee’s 


Design by J. Greher {Courtesy of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park) 

PLAN FOR THE PARKWAY AND TRAFFIC CIRCUIT 

treatment of the Schuylkill was different. The lower 
portion was also to have municipal docks, but the upper 
banks were to be considered with an eye to beauty 
chiefly. Any Philadelphian who has visited the River¬ 
side Drive in New York understands what can be 
made of a river bank. On one side are fine residences 
and beautiful apartment houses and on the other the 











220 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


sparkling river. Winter and summer you may see 
hundreds of people seated on the tops of motor busses 
riding up and down this beautiful thoroughfare. Other 
hundreds are walking along the footways, or sitting on 
benches under the trees. Philadelphia could also have 
such a drive. New York, London, and Paris are cities 
situated like Philadelphia, on rivers, and all of these 
cities have laid out wide avenues along their river banks, 
thus adding greatly to their beauty. 

Philadelphia so far has 
only improved the banks 
of the Schuylkill within 
Fairmount Park. The 
plan is to extend the 
improvement south to 
Bartram’s Gardens by 
constructing what are 
known as the ^^Schuyl¬ 
kill Embankments,’’ or 
boulevards along both 
sides of the river. The boulevard would be built at a 
higher level than the railroads and the docks, supported 
by steel and concrete framework. At the present time 
the banks of the Schuylkill between the Spring Garden 
Street and the Gray’s Ferry Bridges present a very 
mean appearance and there is little shipping there. The 
Schuylkill Embankment” would pass the Art Gallery 
at the entrance to the Parkway and so connect with that 
radial avenue. 

9. Business and Residential Sections: Zoning Com¬ 
mission .—Every busy and growing city must have a 
part of its area devoted to business, a part to manu- 



(Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks 
and Ferries) 

FILLING A MUD SCOW 
A Bucket Dredge in operation. 




CITY PLANNING 


221 


facturing, and a part to residences. The manufacturing 
area should be convenient to the railroad te rmin als 
and to the water front. The business section grows up 
naturally in the center of the city where the transporta¬ 
tion lines come together. A large part of the city, how¬ 
ever, must be given up to the homes of the people. 

As the city grows, manufacturing and business districts 
constantly increase in size, encroaching on the older 
residence neighborhoods. Everyone is familiar with 
some section of the city where houses are gradually 
being replaced by offices, shops, or factories. When 
the Declaration of Independence was signed. Sixth and 
Chestnut Streets was a fashionable residence neighbor¬ 
hood. Now, Chestnut Street as far west as the Schuyl¬ 
kill is in the last stages of the change to a business street. 

It is natural that the central and older part of towns 
should be taken by business. The newer regions, how¬ 
ever, might in many cases be used either for business or 
for homes. Who is to decide? The decision has been 
left to chance, with results that were often not desirable. 
Let us suppose that an area of well-built and comfortable 
houses, where many residents of moderate means own 
their own homes, begins to be invaded by factories. 
These bring smoke and noise and immediately the neigh¬ 
borhood becomes a less desirable place to live in. The 
dwelling houses in this area decrease in value. The 
city should safeguard its residential areas, yet also make 
provision for new manufacturing enterprises. 

Many cities have solved this difficulty by dividing 
their areas into districts, making provision for business, 
manufacturing, and residential districts. The Legislature 
of Pennsylvania has passed a law allowing Philadelphia 


222 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to appoint a Zoning Commission, whose business it 
shall be to see to this part of the city plan. The Phila¬ 
delphia Zoning Commission was accordingly appointed 
and is at work upon this problem. 

The city plan will not be complete until provision is 



(Courtesy of the City Parks Association) 
TREES OR WIRES—WHICH? 

The wires should be placed under ground for many reasons; one is that they will 
prevent the growth of the trees. 


made for satisfactory residence districts for people of 
small incomes. In the United States we are just begin¬ 
ning to realize that no community can prosper as it should 
unless its work-people are happy and healthy. Disease, 
crime, and inefficiency are fostered by bad housing 
conditions. High-grade laborers will not live in a place 
where housing is inadequate. American cities have been 










CITY PLANNING 


223 


slow to recognize this, but many business corporations 
have built model villages for their employees as a busi¬ 
ness measure. One such is located at Marcus Hook, 
near Philadelphia. Since the United States has gone 
into the business of making ships and munitions it has 
undertaken to provide good homes for its working people. 
Congress has appropriated many millions to build houses 
in several localities in the Eastern States. 

In England the people have made a good start in this 



(Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 
THE SKY-SCRAPER DISTRICT 


matter. They have begun the construction of what are 
called garden cities,^’ where small but convenient, 
beautiful, and sanitary houses are built among trees and 
gardens. The houses are either near a great industrial 
plant where the men work, or near a transportation line 
which will take them to work for a very small fare. 

10. Regulation of Buildings .—The law says that this 
Zoning Commission may recommend regulations ^Tor 
the location, size, and use of buildings.’’ This is so 
that we may prevent the erection of the very high build¬ 
ings called ^^sky-scrapers.” If there are high buildings 
on both sides of a narrow street the street is very dark 





224 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


and many of the rooms in the buildings are dark. Where 
the center of a city is occupied by such large buildings 
it also causes difficulty in transportation arrangements. 
A host of people have to come into the buildings to 
work about nine o^clock in the morning and go home 
again about five o^clock in the evening. Even with all 
the surface cars, subway and elevated trains, and ferry 
boats taking these crowds home, it is impossible to 
avoid much delay, discomfort, and danger. 

Regulation of buildings from the point of view of the 
architect and artist is also very important. We know 
that a number of fine and appropriate buildings are to 
be erected on the Parkway. But if there should be even 
a few unsightly and unsuitable buildings erected there 
they would seriously mar its beauty. Fortunately a 
law permits our Fairmount Park Commissioners to 
regulate the location, size, and use of buildings which 
come within 200 feet of any park, parkway, or play¬ 
ground under their care. 

We are further assured of the future beauty of the 
Parkway and of all other parts of the city by the powers 
given to the Art Jury by act of the Legislature in 1907. 
This body of men is composed of several citizens promi¬ 
nent in architecture and art, appointed by the Mayor. 
Plans for all buildings, fountains, sculptures, tablets, 
paintings, and bridges to be presented to the city or 
purchased with the city^s money must first be submitted 
to the Art Jury. The approval of the jury is also required 
for any structure belonging to any person or corporation 
<vhich shall be erected upon or extend over any highway, 
Square, park, or any public place within the city. 

These regulations apply, of course, only to new struc- 


CITY PLANNING 


225 


tures. It is to be wished that power could be given to 
compel the removal of old and unsightly objects. The 
general powers given to these city bodies to control 
buildings are not as great as the power possessed in 
New York, and they should be enlarged. 



(Courtesy of the Bureau of Surveys') 
WALNUT LANE BRIDGE 

When it was built this bridge was the longest concrete arch in the world. Its span 
is 233 feet, floor is 147 feet above the creek. 

More should be done to preserve our famous old 
buildings. The Bureau of City Property has completed 
a fine piece of work in restoring Independence Hall, 
Congress Hall, and Independence Square to their original 
appearance, even to the old colonial lamp-posts. The 
installation of automatic sprinklers also gives us assur¬ 
ance that these treasures of patriotic association and of 


15 







226 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


architectural beauty will not be lost. It would be well 
for the city to rescue Carpenters’ Hall from its obscurity 
behind ugly modem buildings, and to see that it and 
Christ Church, the Betsy Ross House, and other precious 
old places are surrounded by open spaces to protect 
them from fire and to give them a better setting. 

Metropolitan Planning.—^We have seen that the city 
Bureau of Surveys has been making careful designs for 
the development of the portions of southwest Philadelphia 
not yet built up. Between that region and the city of 
Chester the country is rapidly filling with great industrial 
plants and suburban villages. These are growing up in 
an entirely miscellaneous and unregulated fashion. If 
Philadelphia had the power to extend her street plan 
to meet that of Chester this development might be made 
orderly, convenient, and beautiful. There is a similar 
need for extension toward the north and the west. In 
speaking of the outer park system it was suggested that 
Philadelphia should reach out into the surrounding 
country to save the valleys of the streams for park pur¬ 
poses. All the outlying regions should be planned 
with a view to a general park system. For these reasons 
it has been suggested that the city boundaries should be 
enlarged to make a greater Philadelphia, to include 
Bristol on the north and Chester on the south; or else 
that a ^‘metropolitan area” should be created by act 
of the Legislature, including Philadelphia and the sur¬ 
rounding land for purposes of city planning. 

Financing the City Plans.—It will require a great 
many millions of dollars to make all the dreams of a 
^‘more healthy, convenient, prosperous, and beautiful 
Philadelphia” come true. Thirty or forty years may 


CITY PLANNING 


227 


pass before we can afford to have all that has been planned. 
The advantage of planning is that whatever the city 
builds will form part of a harmonious whole. 

It is not true, however, that all the expense of con¬ 
struction must come out of the pockets of the taxpayers. 
There are modern methods of making improvements 
pay for themselves which have not yet been tried in 
Philadelphia. Some of these are: assessing the costs 
of improvements against the properties benefited, excess 
condemnation and resale, and taxation of the unearned 
increment. These methods of financing will be explained 
in Chapter XVI. 

Many of the improvements, such as the subway, the 
elevated electric roads, and the municipal docks, can be 
made to pay for themselves and finally yield a profit to 
the city. 

Conclusion.—^When the financial problem seems too 
great and we are tempted to turn aside from the vision 
of a beautiful Philadelphia let us remember the advice 
of a famous city planner, Mr. Daniel H. Burnham: 
'^Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s 
blood and probably themselves will not be realized. 
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remember¬ 
ing that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never 
die, but long after we have gone will be a living thing, 
asserting itself with ever growing insistency. Remember 
that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that 
would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and 
your beacon beauty.” 


CHAPTER XI 


Transportation 

Transportation facilities are the lifeblood of a com¬ 
munity. If they are sluggish or scanty the industrial 
and commercial growth upon which the city depends 
for its very life cannot continue. Never was this brought 
home to Philadelphia more strongly than at the time 
the European War was forcing her into the position of 
second port and chief shipbuilding center of the United 
States. The throngs of new people drawn by the new 
industries taxed the street car lines to the utmost, the 
motor trucks crowded the streets, the railroads proved 
inadequate to handling the enormous amount of freight. 
So serious did the situation become here and elsewhere, 
that the United States Government had to step in to 
control the railroads and force improvements upon the 
street railways as a most important war measure. 

Street Railways. 1. History .—All the street cars 
now bear the name of the same company, the Philadelphia 
Rapid Transit Company, and the cars are of the same 
style. In the old days the names of the companies 
painted on them were different for nearly every street. 
There were the Empire Street Railway Company, the 
Union Passenger Railway Company, the Continental, 
the Gray^s Ferry, the West Philadelphia, and many 
others. Gradually all of these companies disappeared. 
A street railway line which was stronger or more enter¬ 
prising than its neighbor would rent the other^s tracks 

( 228 ) 


TRANSPORTATION 


229 


for a long period, usually 999 years, and then run its 
cars over both systems. So far was this renting carried 
by 1889 that out of more than fifty companies which 
had received franchises, or permits to use the city streets, 
only fifteen were operating their own lines, and by 1893 
the number was reduced to four. In 1901 the Phila¬ 
delphia Rapid Transit Company was chartered and the 
next year it rented the only two lines which were left, 
the Union Traction Company and the Arch Street line, 
thus securing a monopoly of all the street railway business 
of the city. 

The business methods by which this monopoly was 
built up were complicated and curious. When one 
company rented the lines of another it guaranteed to 
pay a certain dividend to the stockholders of the other 
company each year. In the formation of larger and 
larger combinations some lines have been rented as many 
as five times, and in each case dividends were guaranteed, 
so that the later companies have had very heavy expenses 
to meet. The present operating company must pay for 
the use of the tracks on Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets 
more than seventy per cent annually on the money 
originally invested. For other streets it pays from 
sixteen to forty per cent annually. This financial situ¬ 
ation is also the reason why it has been hard to secure 
low fares and free transfers in Philadelphia. Another 
curious thing about the business is that the franchises 
are perpetual. The state and the city have given the 
use of our streets forever, and there is no w^ay for the 
city to get control of the lines without the consent of 
the stockholders under our present system of law. The 
later companies, such as the Union Traction and the 


230 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Rapid Transit Company, were formed merely for the 
purpose of renting other companies^ lines. All of these 
things make it difficult for the community to understand 
the operations of the traction companies, and to secure 
from them better service and lower fares. 

2. Contract of 1907 ,—If one goes over the files of news¬ 
papers away back to 1860 he will find hardly a year 
in which the papers were not complaining bitterly of 
the street car service. In 1907 the papers were saying 
more than usual about it, and the company replied that 
it was in such poor financial condition that it could not 
do any better. It proposed a sort of partnership with 
the city, and Councils agreed. The city promised not to 
let any other company build lines within its limits with¬ 
out first offering the opportunity to the Philadelphia 
Rapid Transit Company, and not to hold the company to 
any of the old requirements laid upon it by the City Coun¬ 
cils, such as paving the street and removing the snow. In 
return the company promised to allow the city to have 
three representatives on its board of directors, and to pay 
a sum of money each year to the city. This contract holds 
good until 1957, when it is agreed that the city may 
buy the lines if it chooses to do so. The Director of the 
Department of City Transit, speaking for the city in 
1913, said that this contract had been an advantage to 
the company rather than to the city in money matters. 
He said that the money paid each year was over $800,000 
less than the P. R. T. would have had to pay for paving 
and other charges under the old arrangement. The 
city, too, has been able to control affairs very little by its 
representatives on the board of directors. 

3. The Present System .—Under the contract things 


TRANSPORTATION 


231 


were as bad as ever, and the great strike of 1910 occurred. 
In 1911 one of Philadelphia’s financiers was persuaded 
to undertake a reorganization of the business. He 
brought to Philadelphia a man who had had successful 
experience with street railways in other cities, and made 
him manager. Since then there has been continual 
improvement in all the affairs of the company: in the 
service, equipment, and payment of employees. Yet 
the company for the first time in its history has been 
able to pay dividends to its stockholders. 

One can see from the map of the traction system 
what a network of tracks Philadelphia now has. There 
are two kinds of lines, the surface and the subway- 
elevated or high speed lines. On the surface lines the 
present type of car is the finest we have ever had. The 
nearside car,” by making it impossible for anyone 
to get on or off while the car is in motion, has greatly 
decreased the number of accidents to passengers. The 
subway-elevated system was started in 1901 and com¬ 
pleted in 1907 for the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Com¬ 
pany. It is now owned by the Union Traction Company 
and is rented to the Rapid Transit Company to operate. 
The line is elevated from Sixty-ninth and Market Streets 
to the Schuylkill River, a subway under Market Street 
to the Delaware River, and again becomes elevated 
along the river shore to the South Street ferry. Surface 
cars from West Philadelphia enter the subway at the 
Schuylkill River and proceed under Market Street to 
Thirteenth Street, where they turn and go back to West 
Philadelphia. 

The subway-elevated has proved to be of the greatest 
benefit to the western part of the city. Up to 1894 


232 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


one had to change cars and travel nearly an hour to 
reach Sixty-third Street from City Hall, while now the 
run can be made without change in twenty minutes. 
The effect upon the building up of that region has been 
almost magical. It is hard for us to realize that prior 
to 1907 the neighborhood of Sixtieth and Market, where 
now are banks and business blocks surrounded by many 
squares of modern residences, was like a country village 
with a few forlorn houses set in the midst of waste lots. 
The same was true of Fifty-second and Market Streets. 
If more such high speed lines were built still other back¬ 
ward districts would be opened for pleasant homes for 
those employed in the center of the city. 

► 4, Plane for New Lines. —In 1912 the City Councils 

were persuaded to appropriate a sum of money to pay 
the expenses of an investigation into the needs for transit 
improvements. The report by the Commissioner em¬ 
ployed to make the investigation recommended two new 
subways and three elevated roads. (See map of the 
transit plans.) - i I 

' The plan is substantially the same now, though 
changed in minor details. The subway is to be built 
running under Broad Street from Olney Avenue on the 
north to League Island on the south. This will shorten 
the time to City Hall for residents of the northern part 
of the city by twenty to thirty minutes, depending on 
their location. It will at the same time aid in the develop¬ 
ment of both northern and southern sections which are 
not yet built up, and serve the great number of people 
employed at League Island Navy Yard. 

The new subway, instead of joining the old subway at 
City Hall where they cross, will go under it and form 



TRANSPORTATION 


2a3 


/ 


/^i 


/ 






r** 

LINE 

lEttaiH 

AMOUNT 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 
7 

Brood Street Subwoy 
ond Branches 

FronKford Elevated 
35'''*^Ward-Bu3tleton 
Bybcrr^ Surface Line 
Oarby Oavated 
P^jrkwoy-Northweat Lina 
Pelivery Loop 

Chestnut Street SuPwy 
Real Estate and Easements 

10.14 ♦n 

<134- n 

10.00 M 
a.30*M 
5.<ld+M 
1.50 n 

i.63 n 

9 25X100,000 

S A40a000 

S 1,200,000 

S 4.200,000 

S 7.500.000 
$ 7.600,000 

S 5.000,000 

S 2.200.000 

Total i^l6 Appropriation - 

Tbtol WI5 Appropriation - 

$ 5 7.100.000 
S 6.000.000 

Total Appropriation - 

S 63.100.000 




f BUSTLETDW 


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• r 


•*6"^ 


S^TMVVA^P-SuSTLt+ON 

gretggY-SugrA^l linC 




si.?ocu>do 





Courtesy of the Department of City Transit. 
PHILADELPHIA TRANSIT PLANS 

The new transit lines are established by ordinance according to this map. The 
original estimate of the cost will be much exceeded because of the general nse in prices. 











































































234 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


a big circuit under Locust Street, Eighth Street, and 
Arch Street. Thus passengers for the center of the city 
will be able to leave the cars at various stations along 
those streets, instead of all leaving at City Hall, where 
the crowd is already great. (See map.) 

One elevated road provided in the plan runs from the 
Delaware River end of the Market Street elevated north 
on Front Street, then on Kensington Avenue to Frankford 
Avenue, and then on Frankford Avenue to Rhawn Street 
in Frankford. This, every one knows, is very much 
needed. Kensington and Frankford are immense areas in 
the northeast, thickly populated and the home of many 
industries; yet they have been connected with the 
center of the city only by surface cars and by infrequent 
and expensive service on the railroads. 

The next elevated road to be constructed will branch 
from the Market Street elevated at Thirtieth Street 
and go southwest to Darby. The region served by 
such a road is not so thickly populated as Frankford, 
but with such service it would be developed at once and 
furnish homes for thousands of families. Both of these 
elevated lines would be branches of the Market Street 
system and use the present subway to discharge their 
passengers in the center of the city until a Chestnut 
Street subway is built. 

The city is also to build and own a double-track sur¬ 
face line to Bustleton and Byberry in the Thirty-fifth 
Ward. The transit company has not been willing to 
extend its lines in those directions because of the small 
population. It is to the interest of the city to see that 
what is now largely a farming region shall be made 
accessible, so that people may build homes there. 


TRANSPORTATION 


235 


The lines mentioned above are to be completed as 
soon as possible. The elaborate studies of the location 
of the population of the city which were made showed 
that more high speed lines would be needed in the future. 
It seemed wise to plan for these in advance, so that they 
might fit in with the rest of the scheme. There was 
therefore placed upon the maps a subway under Chestnut 
Street, to be built within the next twenty years. This 
would be connected with both the new elevated lines, 
so that the Market Street subway would be relieved of 
the Frankford and Darby traffic. 

The next line will be one to the northwest in the direc¬ 
tion of Roxborough, called the Parkway-Northwest 
Line.’^ Beginning at the Broad Street subway near 
City Hall, it will run under the Parkway as far as the 
Green Street entrance to Fairmount Park. Then it 
will become an elevated line extending up Twenty-ninth 
Street and along Henry Avenue to Roxborough. The 
northwest section, which includes Manayunk and Rox¬ 
borough, is as distant and as poorly served as Frankford, 
though not so populous, and it deserves an elevated 
line as soon as the city can afford it. 

Instead of granting franchises to traction companies 
in the old fashion, it was decided that the city should 
build and own these lines itself. Power to do this was 
secured by acts of the State Legislature, and a Depart¬ 
ment of City Transit was organized to manage the 
enterprise. To secure the connection of all the lines 
the Rapid Transit Company has been offered the oppor¬ 
tunity to rent them and operate them in connection with 
its system, sharing the profits with the city. 

5. Finding the Money .—Though the construction of 


236 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


these lines will cost a great many millions of dollarSy 
it seems advisable to spend that amount, because it 
can be borrowed and afterward paid back from the 
city^s share in the profits of the lines and the increased 
taxable value of real estate. At first the business will 
probably not be very profitable, but as the city grows 
it is bound to pay, and then the city’s share in the profits 
can be used for interest on the loans and the gradual 
payment of the principal. Every improvement in 
transportation increases the amount of business done 
in the city, the number of people coming to live there, 
and consequently the price of real estate. Therefore 
if the value of real estate increases, the city’s income 
grows larger. That high speed lines do increase the 
value of real estate is very easily proved by the experi¬ 
ence of West Philadelphia. The increase in the assessed 
valuation of real estate in West Philadelphia from 1900 
to 1906, while the Market Street elevated was being 
built, was over $57,000,000, or fifty-eight per cent of its 
former valuation. 

6. Present Transit Situation .—There have been many 
delays in putting into operation the plans which were 
first made in 1913. Much time was spent in persuading 
City Councils to approve the plans and pass the ordi¬ 
nances necessary. Then an election had to be held, 
at which the people signified their willingness to have 
the city borrow the money for the purpose. Acts of 
the Legislature and an amendment to the state consti¬ 
tution had to be secured as explained above. The 
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and the under¬ 
lying companies, which are holders of the franchises, 
had to be persuaded to accept the plan for the leasing 


TRANSPORTATION 


237 


of the city lines by the operating company. It was 
necessary to secure a ^^certificate of public convenience’’ 
from the state Public Service Commission, first for the 
building of the city-owned lines, and second for the 
lease of those lines to the Rapid Transit Company. 

In spite of delays, something has been accomplished. 
A large portion of the elevated construction and some 
of the excavation has been completed. The approval 
of the Public Service Commission has been secured for 
the whole scheme of transit improvement. City Coun¬ 
cils and the transit company have agreed upon a form 
of lease, and this is before the Public Service Commission 
for its approval. 

The Philadelphia public should be very much con¬ 
cerned with the terms of the lease to the P. R. T. It 
will be an addition to the contract of 1907 and will bind 
the city for thirty-nine years to come. The terms of 
the contract of 1907 remain in force. The following 
are some of the important provisions of the new lease. 

1. The company agrees to operate all lines built and to be built by 

the city with its own lines as a unified system. 

2. The city is to provide the elevated and subway structures and the 

cars. 

3. The company is to provide the electrical power and the equipment 

for its transmission, together with the station facilities. 

4. The company agrees to extend its own lines, as extensions may be 

required by the city and approved by the Public Service Com¬ 
mission. 

5. After all expenses and fixed charges have been deducted from the 

gross revenue of the unified system, the company and the city 
will each receive five per cent on its investment. 

6. Within sixty days after the contract goes into effect exchange tickets 

are to be abolished and free traijsfers substituted, except in the 
delivery district, that is, the region bounded by Arch, Locust, and 


238 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the two rivers. After the opening of the Frankford elevated all 
exchange points will be free transfer points. 

7. The fare is to be five cents unless the revenues prove insufficient to 

meet expenses and make payments to the city and the company 
equal to a return of five per cent on the company’s capital stock 
and the city’s investment. In the latter case it may be raised 
with the consent of the Public Service Commission. If the revenues 
prove to be more than enough to meet these payments, provision 
is made for lowering the fares with the consent of the Commission. 

8. The accounts are to be audited each year by public accountants at 

the expense of the unified system. 

9. The city has the right to buy out the company’s interest in all the 

lines at cost, and operate them itself, at any time after July 1, 1927. 

10. All the affairs of the unified system are to be under the direction 
of a Supervising Board consisting of the Director of the Depart¬ 
ment of City Transit, one member appointed by the company, 
and a third member, who shall be chairman, appointed by the 
Mayor and the president of the company. In case of failure by 
the board to agree on any point, the matter is to be settled by 
the Public Service Commission. 


Rapid Transit to Camden.—There has been discussion 
for many years of plans for improving our connection 
with Camden. That city is the largest and nearest 
of the outside settlements which form a part of Metropoli¬ 
tan Philadelphia. Thousands of people cross the ferries 
every day because they work in our city or wish to take 
the trains for seashore resorts. Ferryboat service is 
very slow, especially in winter. At the time that the 
new transit plans were being formed, part of the scheme 
was to have a tunnel under the river to connect with 
the Market Street or Chestnut Street subways. The 
^‘Camden tube’^ had to be dropped from the plans 
because of the many difficulties in the way of its accom¬ 
plishment. A bridge across the Delaware connecting 
Philadelphia and Camden has been decided upon, and 


TRANSPORTATION 


239 


appropriations have been made by the states of Pennsyl¬ 
vania and New Jersey for the beginning of the preliminary 
work upon the great undertaking. 

Suburban Electric Systems.—^Very important to Phila¬ 
delphia is the service of the electric roads beyond our 
borders. They connect with the city system and make 
it possible for many people who work in the city to have 
pleasant homes in nearby towns and in the country. 
They serve to link up the parts of that greater Phila¬ 
delphia which is in many ways a unit though not under 
the control of the city government. It is not desirable 
to describe these lines in a discussion limited to the 
boundaries of Philadelphia. Among the most important 
may be mentioned the Philadelphia and Western, a 
high speed road which leads to Allentown; the Trenton 
and Bristol Railway; the West Chester Line; the 
Chester Line; and the Old York Road Line, which 
carries so many Philadelphians to Willow Grove Park. 
The last two are under the control of the Philadelphia 
Rapid Transit Company. The outside electric roads 
are capable of much greater development, especially 
in the carrying of light freight and food supplies. 

Motor Transportation.—Congestion of freight and 
express matter on the railroads has caused a rapid develop¬ 
ment of motor transportation. The United States Post 
Office Department and private corporations are starting 
motor truck lines to supplement the railroad transporta¬ 
tion. Every day we can see in our streets great trucks 
bound from New York to Baltimore, or from Philadelphia 
to outlying towns, with a miscellaneous cargo of mer¬ 
chandise. This means of transportation promises to be 
a great advantage to the small shipper and consumer. 


240 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


especially in the matter of food supplies, and will make 
more available to the people of Philadelphia the food 
grown in nearby regions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 
This new development brings new problems to Phila¬ 
delphia. We must have broader streets, more durable 
forms of paving, and more regulation of street traffic. 

The new street 
plans for Phila- 
delphia have 
been described in 
Chapter X. 

Steam Rail¬ 
roads.—The chief 
means of trans¬ 
portation be¬ 
tween Philadel¬ 
phia and other 
cities is of course 
the steam rail¬ 
roads. They also 
serve another im¬ 
portant purpose 
in providing con¬ 
nections with the suburbs, where so many of the city’s 
workers find homes. Three roads enter the city, the 
Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia and Reading, and the 
Baltimore and Ohio. All three have passenger ter¬ 
minals in the central part of the city, the Pennsylvania 
at Broad and Market Streets, the Reading at Twelfth 
and Market Streets, and the Baltimore and Ohio at 
Twenty-fourth and Chestnut Streets. The first two 
enter the terminals by an elevated roadway, the third 



{Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 


A CONGESTED RAILROAD YARD 





TRANSPORTATION 


241 


by a road along the banks of the Schuylkill. All have 
freight yards at the water front to transfer the goods 
brought from distant points to sea-going ships. The 
Reading freight terminal is at Port Richmond on 
the Delaware, in the northern part of the city. The 
Pennsylvania uses both the Greenwich Point terminal 
on the Delaware in the southern part of the city and 
that at Girard Point on the lower banks of the Schuyl¬ 
kill. The Baltimore and Ohio shares the last mentioned 
yard. At each of these terminals there are great docks, 
elevators, and machinery for handling freight. Spurs 
of the freight lines are also built into the manufacturing 
districts to serve the mills by delivering the raw materials 
and carrying away the products of manufacture. The 
Pennsylvania maintains a freight distributing yard in 
West Philadelphia and the Reading at Broad and Callow- 
hill Streets. 

One has to study a map of Philadelphia to realize 
how these railroads cross and recross the city. Because 
there was no attempt at city planning when they secured 
their right of way, there is much more space given up 
to tracks than is necessary. Each company has its 
independent lines, though they may be aiming at the 
same destination. Besides the loss of real estate values, 
there is a great evil in the crossing of the streets by 
railroad trains. Accidents to pedestrians and vehicles 
often happen at these crossings, and traffic on the streets 
is held up many times a day while it waits for the trains 
to pass. 

The South Philadelphia Plans.—In the chapter on 
city planning reference has been made to the progress 
of the city in securing the removal of grade crossings.. 


16 


242 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The greatest enterprise of the kind which has been under¬ 
taken is in connection with the relocation of the railroads 
in South Philadelphia. It has been appreciated for 
many years that a great opportunity existed to improve 
conditions in that district, which had not yet been built 
up and so was open to rearrangement. In 1913 an 
agreement was reached between the city and the rail¬ 
roads. It will take many years to complete the changes. 

Three lines at present cross the city from east to west 
in South Philadelphia. It is proposed to combine two of 
these lines into a new one. This will be an elevated run¬ 
ning south on Twenty-ninth Street to Girard Point, then 
a surface line on the extreme southern shore, skirting the 
Navy Yard to Greenwich Point, where it will join with the 
Belt Line Railroad. The new road will be open to the 
use of any railroad entering Philadelphia. The advantages 
of this change will be evident. The area south of Oregon 
Avenue, which is much needed for residences but which 
has been kept vacant because of the presence of the 
railroads, will now be opened for development. The 
railroads will combine on one right of way, and follow 
the banks of the river where they can be of most service 
in carrying freight to the docks. The new road will 
all be elevated in the portion where it crosses streets, 
so that grade crossings will be removed. It is to be 
regretted that no way was found to remove the railroad 
on Washington Avenue. The agreement is, however, 
that the road shall be elevated so that grade crossings 
will be eliminated. The expense of these changes is to 
be divided between the city and the railway companies. 

The Belt Line Railroad.—One of the crying needs in 
transportation has been a railroad line skirting all the 


TRANSPORTATION 


243 


docks and open to all the railroads in common, so that 
a shipper sending a carload of goods to Philadelphia 
for shipment by sea might have them delivered to any 
steamship line he chose. As it was, he could send his 
goods only to the steamships using the docks of the 
railroad company over whose lines the car reached 
Philadelphia. 

Some years ago the Philadelphia Belt Line was formed 
to meet this need. The community, represented by 
the Board of Trade and 
the Commercial Ex¬ 
change, and the three 
railroads were to exercise 
joint control over it. 

Only a short line was 
laid, however, on Dela¬ 
ware Avenue from Vine 
to South Streets, and 
the development of the 
plan is left for the future. 

The new south shore line 
described above will help 
to realize the plan. Belt line facilities are guaranteed 
under the agreement to every wharf on the South Phila¬ 
delphia water front. 

The Docks.—As was pointed out in the chapter on 
city planning, Philadelphia has an unusually long 
water front, and all the Delaware and part of the Schuyl¬ 
kill banks are on deep enough water for sea-going vessels. 
About the year 1912 the city adopted plans for the 
improvement of this part of its resources. It was pointed 
out at that time that the available dock space was 



(Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks 
and Ferries) 

BOAT OF COMMISSIONERS OF 
NAVIGATION 

Officers collect the papers showing port of 
departure, destination, cargo, etc., from all ves¬ 
sels going up the river. 





244 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


monopolized by the railroads and by other corporations, 
and that much of it was undeveloped. It was very 
difficult for independent steamship lines to secure any 
wharf privileges. The great development of municipal 
docks which had been going on in other cities had been 
almost entirely neglected here. 

When the agreement as to the relocation of railroads 
in South Philadelphia was reached, in 1913, the Pennsyl- 



(Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 
PROPOSED MOYAMENSING PIERS 


vania and Baltimore and Ohio companies were per¬ 
suaded to make an exchange with the city of water front 
property. The city secured the Greenwich Point property 
of the railroads as a location for municipal docks. The 
railroads in return were given title to the strip of land 
south between Greenwich Point and the Navy Yard. 
The land below Greenwich Point is to be occupied by 
new and extensive car storage and classification yards 
and new piers for the joint use of the two railroads. 

The city committed itself at that time to a plan for 
two groups of municipal piers for commercial uses. The 




TRANSPORTATION 


245 


first group, called the Southwark piers, consists of three 
at the foot of Queen and Christian Streets. They are 
of the most modern construction, with handsome con¬ 
crete fagades on Delaware Avenue. The second group 
of municipal piers is located partly on the land above 
Greenwich Point secured from the railroad company 
and partly on land north of that secured by purchase. 
They are called the Moyamensing piers. The group 
when finished will consist of ten piers, longer and larger 
than any others in the port of Philadelphia. These and 
the Southwark piers are equipped with railroad tracks and 
with modern devices for handling freight. The city 
has recently built smaller municipal docks for commercial 
uses at Dock Street and Cherry Street on the Delaware. 
It owned in 1918 sixteen piers, which were rented con¬ 
tinuously. Yet there is a constant demand for more 
space. The building of the docks and their supervision 
is under the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries 
of the city government. 

Rivers and Canals. —It has been sometimes imagined 
that because Philadelphia is more than eighty miles 
from the sea it cannot become a port of the first magni¬ 
tude. Of the great ports of the world, London, Liverpool, 
Hamburg, and Antwerp are situated on rivers as is Phila¬ 
delphia. Two of our rivals in America, Baltimore and 
New Orleans, are further from the sea than we are. 
Even New York is reached through twenty-five miles 
of channel. Provided that the river is ample in size, 
distance from the sea is an advantage because it gives 
safety in time of war and reduces the cost of transporta¬ 
tion by bringing the ships nearer to the inland sources 
of their cargoes. 


246 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The entrance to the harbor of Philadelphia is by the 
broad and deep Delaware Bay and river. The channel 
is maintained at a depth of thirty feet by dredges of the 
United States Government, and within the city limits 



PLAN FOR THE RELOCATION OF RAILROADS IN SOOTH PHILADELPHIA. 


by the city dredges. Work is now under way for increas¬ 
ing its depth to thirty-five feet. The channel is from 
600 to 1000 feet wide and is navigable for large ships. 

On arriving at the city, ships find more than fifteen 
miles of improved water front on both the Dela¬ 
ware and Schuylkill Rivers with nearly three hundred 
wharves for their accommodation. Most of these 

















TRAN SPORT ATION 


247 


wharves are connected with the railroad terminals, as 
we have seen. 

Three canals give inland waterway connection to the 
port. On the south, at Delaware City, the Delaware 
and Chesapeake Canal leads to Baltimore. On the north, 
at Trenton, the Delaware and Raritan Canal gives a 
passage to New York harbor, while at Bristol the Lehigh 



^ (Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 
EXTERIOR OF MUNICIPAL PIER 

Coal and Navigation Company has a canal connecting 
with the coal mining regions. These canals are navigable 
only for barges or small vessels. The first two have 
been included in the plan for the Intra-coastal Waterway 
between Maine and Florida and will probably be taken 
over by the federal government and made deep enough 
for large vessels. 

The city controls the port through the Department 
of Wharves, Docks and Ferries. This department 
















248 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


regulates the construction of new piers and docks, and 
alterations of old ones, makes surveys and soundings 
of the water front, supervises the municipal piers, operates 
the city dredges, and maintains ice boats for breaking 
up any heavy ice which might impede travel on the 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 
INTERIOR OF MUNICIPAL PIER 


river. The water front outside of the city limits comes 
under state jurisdiction and is controlled by the Board 
of Commissioners of Navigation representing the city 
of Philadelphia, the city of Chester, and the borough 
of Bristol. This board has the same powers as the city 
department and in addition the examining, licensing, 
and control of the pilots who guide the vessels up the 
channel from Delaware Bay. 







TRAN SPORT ATION 


249 


Conclusion.—It is hoped that the impetus given to 
Philadelphia by the war will lead the community of its 
own action to develop its enormous resources, and not 
let private enterprise reap all the advantage. It has 
started well by planning city-owned street railways and 
docks. The report of the Director of Wharves, Docks 
and Ferries in 1912 said: ''That Philadelphia’s natural 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 
AN ICE BOAT 

These boats break the ice for ships going up the river. 


and artificial advantages are not only unexcelled, but 
unapproached, either by Boston or Baltimore, hardly 
admits of controversy. Located on an excellent deep¬ 
water channel, with a large producing and consuming 
territory tributary to it, with direct connections to three 
independent trunk line railroads, Philadelphia’s facilities 
for securing and accommodating a large commerce 
are of the very first rank. New York offers some unques¬ 
tionable advantages. As far as her facilities for economi- 





250 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


cal handling of goods intended for transshipment into 
the Mississippi Valley and Western States is concerned, 
however, she cannot now compete with Philadelphia, 
except with the assistance of discriminatory freight 
rates. The time is ripe for Philadelphia to reassert 
itself and again take its place as one of the world^s fore- 



(Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 


SHIP AT MUNICIPAL PIER 

A new line of steamships secured for the city by the erection of the Municipal Piers. 

most ports. That it cannot do so until its docking and 
railroad facilities are enormously increased needs no 
argument to any sensible mind. The city of Philadelphia 
is standing face to face with a great opportunity. If it 
advances to meet it with a rational program of accom¬ 
plishment it can be grasped to the city’s everlasting 
credit and profit.” If this was true in 1912 it is even 
more applicable to the situation in 1918. 









CHAPTER XII 


Getting a Living in Philadelphia 

Business in Philadelphia.—Philadelphia has many 
claims for recognition as one of the greatest cities of the 
country. In population it ranks third; it is also third 
in the value of the products of its industries; again, 
it is third in the value of the goods imported and second 
in the value of the goods exported; it stands among the 
first five in the richness of its financial resources. To 
grasp some idea of the magnitude of the business life 
which involves so many people engaged in the manu¬ 
facturing and distributing of such wealth, it is necessary 
to classify the business carried on in Philadelphia and 
notice each class briefly. 

Industries.—Philadelphia owes its present industrial 
greatness to many factors. Our nearness to the sources 
of supply of coal and iron, the abundance of cheap labor 
available because of the great number of immigrants 
who came to our port, the various kinds of transporta¬ 
tion that could be used—all combined to promote the 
growth of the manufacturing that began so early in 
Pennsylvania, and all served to induce other manu¬ 
facturers to settle in our city. New industries are being 
continually attracted to Philadelphia for another reason 
too. Perhaps in no other single locality in the United 
States is there gathered together such a great body of 
skilled labor—mechanics, artisans, workers in all crafts. 
The skilled laborer is not usually a wanderer; he more 

( 251 ) 


252 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 



often owns his own home and is not easily drawn from 
it and his family, so the industry must come to him. 

In approximately 9,000 manufacturing establishments 
in Philadelphia, over 250 varieties of industry are repre¬ 
sented. The war has made many changes in the relative 
importance of our industries, but the following are 
among the most important in the value of output: ship¬ 
building, clothing, textiles, iron and steel products, 

printing and pub¬ 
lishing, sugar re¬ 
fining, leather 
(tanned, cured, 
and finished), 
petroleum re¬ 
fining. 

There are some 
products of Phila¬ 
delphia industries 
for which we are 
noted the world 
over. In the 
manufacture of 
locomotives our city holds first rank. Philadelphia-made 
felt hats are worn by men in every country from Canada 
to Australia. The mechanics and workmen of every 
country use saws, files, and other tools made in Phila¬ 
delphia. The street railway cars for most cities of the 
world are built here. 

Other products also have helped by their quality 
or value to make Philadelphia famous, but the story 
of our industrial greatness cannot be discussed further 
in this chapter. The Philadelphia Chamber of Com- 


{Courtesy ofUhe Public Ledger) 
A VIEW IN A MILL DISTRICT 



GETTING A LIVING 


253 


merce is issuing a comprehensive series of pamphlets, 
each of which gives an account of the processes in one 
of the industries which helps to make the city one of 
the world’s greatest workshops. 

Commerce.—That Philadelphia should rank high in 
commerce is a natural outcome of its good location. 



{Courtesy of the Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries) 


SHIPPING ALONG DELAWARE AVENUE 


The raw material for many local industries, such as 
textiles and sugar refining, come by way of the port of 
Philadelphia, and there is a big business in the handling 
of other imports. In 1916 the value of all goods imported 
here was nearly $100,000,000. In the value of exports 
Philadelphia ranks second only to New York, the goods 
exported in 1916 being valued at approximately $200,- 
000,000. A great deal of this trade is in the raw materials 
found near the city. From this port is sent coal from 








254 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Grain, 
lumber, and oil, both crude and refined, are shipped in 
large quantities. Exports of iron and steel from the 
sheet-metal mills of the state are heavy; and the com¬ 
merce in the disposing of the products of our own fac¬ 
tories is a vast business in itself. Besides these com¬ 
mercial lines which result from our industries and near¬ 
ness to raw materials, Philadelphia has others which 
seem to be attracted here simply because of the volume 
of business. The wholesale paper trade is an example. 

Because of our large population, our retail trade is 
enormous. In addition to the innumerable small retail 
stores, Philadelphia has five department stores which 
rank among the largest in the world. 

The opportunity for securing our large population 
as a market, and the task of placing before a more distant 
public the products of Philadelphia manufacturers, 
account for the establishment in this city of the head¬ 
quarters of the greatest firm of advertising agents in 
the country, while other advertising firms maintain 
offices here. 

Finance.—An industrial and commercial life of such 
proportions requires adequate banking facilities. Phila¬ 
delphia has played a leading part in the financial history 
of the country, from the time of Robert Morris in the 
Revolution, Stephen Girard in the War of 1812, and 
Jay Cooke in the Civil War, down to the floating of the 
last Liberty Loan. Some of our banking firms date 
far back into the last century, and have a world position. 
The banks and trust companies number over a hundred, 
and have a capital of $200,000,000. For every day's 
business the transactions aggregate $40,000,000—fully 


GETTING A LIVING 


255 


$1,000,000,000 per month. Because of the volume of 
financial operations in this city, Philadelphia was made 
the center of one of the Federal Reserve districts. Our 
Federal Reserve Bank is in the Hornor Building, on 
Chestnut Street above Ninth Street. 

What Philadelphia Offers in Occupations.—Even this 



{Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 
A SPINNING ROOM IN A TEXTILE MILL 


brief consideration of the wide range of business in 
Philadelphia would suggest the thousands of different 
jobs that are to be filled in order to get the work done 
and the products distributed. 

Perhaps in no other city of the world, certainly in no 
other city in the United States, is there such a wide 
variety of choice of occupation as in Philadelphia. 

1 . Industrial Occupations .—Even in one factory there 





256 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


are literally hundreds of different kinds of work, 
from the tasks that require only the commonest and 
most unskilled labor to the work that demands skill, 
training, and efficiency. In the highly specialized indus¬ 
tries of to-day each worker performs but one process 
in the making of the product. For instance, in the 
shirt-making industry (included above under clothing) 
each process is performed by one person who does that 
one thing only, whether it is the guiding of an electric 
cutting machine or the tying up of the boxes in which 
the finished shirt is packed. 

2. Commercial Occupations .—In this very factory, 
besides the industrial workers, you will note a number 
of people whose work is connected in some way or other 
with the buying and selling of the raw materials and 
the finished products that are turned o.ut from them. 
The task of transporting the raw materials into the city, 
either by rail or by ship; of unloading and carrying to 
the place of business; of carrying the finished product 
from the factory to the wharf or freight yard from which 
the vessel or train bears it from the city, makes in itself 
a line of business which gives employment to many. 
The transportation of the population in street cars, 
trains, ferries, and automobiles is a slightly different 
commercial line offering employment. Much of the 
manufactured material made in our factories- is sold 
right here in our own city, through the various whole¬ 
sale and retail stores. The big department stores not 
only sell directly to the people of our city and those 
who come in from the outlying districts, but do an 
immense mail-order business. Many different kinds 
of occupations, with fine opportunities for advancement, 


GETTING A LIVING 


257 


are open to those whose ability lies along commercial 
or business lines. The agencies concerned in the col¬ 
lection and distribution of food, furniture, clothing, 
books and papers, and luxuries employ thousands of 
workers in a large city like ours. 

3. The Professions .—Many young men and women 
do not wish to enter either the industrial or the com¬ 
mercial world, but are attracted by the opportunities 
for further study and wider training and experience 
offered by the various professions. In this populous 
city there is a great field for the service of doctors, lawyers, 
ministers, teachers, and social service workers. 

4. Agricultural Occupations .—Not many people realize 
that fully one-third of the land within our city limits 
is under cultivation, though everyone knows that the 
part of Pennsylvania within a fifty-mile radius of our 
city is one of the finest farming sections in the state. 
Here is an opportunity for those who do not like the 
confinement of factory or office, but would rather be 
out of doors. Dairying, truck farming, the raising of 
flowers or fruit, poultry raising, and gardening are pos¬ 
sible occupations for those who are fond of country life. 

5. Other Occupations ,—Many occupations cannot be 
classified under any of the above headings, and yet they 
are all important for the prosperity, growth, and comfort 
of our city. Painters, bricklayers, carpenters, elec¬ 
tricians, and many others have to learn their trades, 
and all look forward to the time when they will no longer 
be employees but employers. 

Opportunities for Training for Occupations. —The 
sooner one can make up his mind what he wants to do 
for his life work, the better it will be for him, because 


17 


258 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


he can then decide just what lines to follow in the educa¬ 
tion that is necessary as a preparation for any vocation. 
In making a survey of the occupations it is apparent 
that the more highly paid men and women, the ones 
with the most responsible positions, were the ones with 
tjie greatest amount of education and special training. 



{Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 
MACHINE SHOP OF A SHIP-BUILDING PLANT 


It may very well be that they did not get all that 
training while in school or college, but they have taken 
advantage of every opportunity to improve themselves 
in their special line of work. Boys and girls who 
leave school early may make what seems like a good 
wage to begin with, but they will soon find that the 
gates of progress are barred after they have gone a very 
limited distance. The United States Government, 
through its Bureau of Education, has made a survey 








GETTING A LIVING 


259 


which proves that it is actually worth money to stay 
in school and secure the training which will make advance¬ 
ment possible. 

1. Public Schools .—Philadelphia provides many oppor¬ 
tunities for getting the necessary education in almost 

^ any line of work, even for those whose financial condi¬ 
tion makes it difficult for them to stay long in school. 
In the first place, we have our wonderful public school 
system, already described in Chapter VIII, with its high 
schools, its evening schools in both elementary and high 
school grades, and its trade schools for boys and girls. 
In each of the higher schools the variety of courses 
offered gives opportunity for choice of subjects which 
will prepare for almost any vocation chosen. 

2. Colleges and Universities .—For those who wish to 
go further in preparing for a vocation, the University 
of Pennsylvania offers training in medicine, dentistry, 
law, finance and commerce, and engineering. There 
are free scholarships to the University awarded on com¬ 
petitive examinations to pupils of the city, high schools. 
Temple University offers most of the vocational courses 
given by the University of Pennsylvania. The Drexel 
Institute offers instruction in engineering for men, and 
in domestic science for women, and gives secretarial 
training for both sexes. Those planning to teach or do 
social work may get preparation in the general courses 
in the beautiful suburban colleges at Haverford, Bryn 
Mawr, and Swarthmore, or at the city universities. 

3. Technical Schools .—In such a great textile center 
as our city, where tens of thousands of men and women 
are employed in the mills, there is great need for just 
such an institution as the Philadelphia Textile School, 


260 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


where the students learn how to be practical manu¬ 
facturers with a knowledge of textile machinery, spin¬ 
ning, weaving, dyeing, and finishing. This school is 
only a part of the greater institution, the Pennsylvania 
School of Industrial Art, which is located at Broad and 
Pine Streets. Other important institutions are the 
Franklin Institute and the Spring Garden Institute, 
while in every part of the city there are branches of the 
Young Men’s Christian Association and the Young 
Women’s Christian Association. 

There are in our city, or near it, literally hundreds of 
other schools, where one can learn to do almost any¬ 
thing—from typewriting and stenography to hairdress¬ 
ing, manicuring, and massaging. So the boys and girls 
who have decided their life work have a wide choice 
open before them in choosing the place where they will 
get their training for it. This very fact makes it all 
the more imperative that they should try in every way 
possible to make that choice wisely. Schools and col¬ 
leges will furnish their catalogues on request, and teachers 
or friends may be asked to help in the choice. 

^ 4. Government Aid ,—The state government, through 
the Department of Public Instruction, enforces the 
state School Code, and endeavors to bring our schools 
and colleges up to a higher standard of excellence. Re¬ 
cently the feeling has been growing everywhere that 
more attention should be given to vocational and indus¬ 
trial education, and our state Department of Public 
Instruction has established two bureaus to promote 
that training in Pennsylvania. Our national govern¬ 
ment is now working in cooperation with the states in 
the promotion of vocational education. Just a few 



GETTING A LIVING 


2C1 


months before tlie Wiir broke out the Smith-ITiighes 
Act was signed by the President, and a federal Board 
for Vocational Education has already been appointed. 
The act jn-ovides that, federal grants of money will be 
used to help the states to i)ay the salaries of teachers 
of trades, home and agricultural subjects. The war has 
shown the general shortage of traiiu'd workers, and has 



(Courtesy of the Public Lcilyir) 

leacue island na\w yaed 

Showing a battlosliip in <lry dock. The yard givoa omployinont to thouHJimls. 


led many of the states to begin at once to make use of 
this federal aid. 

Private Organizations Which Aid in Getting a Living.— 
The young peo])le who receive their training in the city 
of Philadelphia find when they get into tlic business life 
of the city that they have many interests in common with 
the other men and women who are doing the same kind of 
work. These common interests often draw them together 
into societies or associations for their mutual benefit. 





262 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


1. For the Laborer .—The skilled laborers in the great 
industries of the city are well organized into unions, 
according to the special work done in the industries. 
The unions are interested in the hours of labor, the 
conditions under which the work is done, and the wages 
paid. By speaking for the men as a whole, better terms 
are made with the employers than each individual could 
make for himself. Sick benefits and unemployment 
allowances are other advantages enjoyed by members 
of unions. The unskilled laborers are not banded together 
to further their interests, unless they belong to some 
such general labor association as the Industrial Workers 
of the World, which is not a factor to be reckoned with 
in Philadelphia. The workers of the city as a whole are 
represented by the Central Labor Union. The local 
unions are frequently branches of national organiza¬ 
tions concerned with the workers in a particular trade. 
The majority of these national unions and the smaller 
unions are affiliated with the American Federation of 
Labor, which is interested in general labor problems 
and represents the workers of the nation as a whole. 

2. For the Business Man .—In the same way the 
managers of business concerns, the manufacturers, and 
the bankers are drawn by their conunon interest in 
improving the business facilities of the city into forming 
organizations for more effective action. The Board of 
Trade is one of the oldest of these. Its members are 
interested particularly in the port facilities, although 
its activities extend in all directions. The Chamber of 
Commerce, to use its own words, ^^was organized for 
the purpose of improving the commercial, manufacturing, 
shipping, and financial interests of the port and city; 



GETTING A LIVING 


263 


to initiate, advocate, and encourage whatever may increase 
the prosperity and welfare of all the citizens of Phila¬ 
delphia and vicinity.” Its membership registers over 
5,000 manufacturers, merchants, bankers, and other busi¬ 
ness men, organized for the purpose of acting coopera¬ 
tively for the commercial advancement of Philadelphia.” 
In the Manufacturers’ Club the social aspect is important, 
as well as the business of looking after the manufacturer’s 
interests in legislation. 

These organizations are interested in the business 
problems of the city as a whole.’ There are also local 
organizations, such as the Walnut Street Business Men’s 
Association and the Germantown and Chestnut Hill 
Improvement Association, each of which is especially 
interested in the problems of its particular district, and 
in calling the attention of the city authorities to its 
needs. As an illustration of the interests of these organi¬ 
zations, one of these states in its bulletin that it stands 
for ^^well-planned, clean streets, for the proper disposi¬ 
tion of rubbish and garbage, for the removal of grade 
crossings,, for adequate recreation facilities, for proper 
education of the young, and for a police protection 
which will make our district a safe and agreeable place 
in which to live.” 

The business life of a great community would not be 
complete without a Stock Exchange—a place where the 
stocks and bonds of corporations can be bought and 
sold. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, at Broad 
and Walnut Streets, performs two services for the com¬ 
munity. It helps to protect the investor, because of the 
publicity which it gives to the market prices of securities. 
It also serves a business function, as there must be a 



264 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


market for the securities of great transportation and 
industrial concerns in order that such concerns may 
come into existence and continue to grow. In Phila¬ 
delphia the market for meat and grain brokers is the 
Bourse. Of course there is no produce to be seen in 
the Bourse, for the brokers buy and sell for others, not 
for themselves, and simply make the business arrange¬ 
ments in the great hall called the Bourse. One of the 
important exchanges in this haU is the Maritime Exchange. 
Through this exchange members can in time of peace 
find out the exact location of any ship in almost any 
place. If the ship is damaged on a voyage, for instance, 
the owner can get everything ready so that it is repaired 
immediately on reaching port. 

Another organization which aims to help the Phila¬ 
delphia business man, especially the manufacturer who 
wishes to develop his export trade, is the Commercial 
Museum. Most people know of the buildings of that 
name at Thirty-fourth and Spruce Streets, where exhibits 
are held and free lectures on geographical subjects are 
given on Saturday afternoons in the winter. This is 
only one side of the work of the organization. Its 
Foreign Trade Bureau and its Commercial Library collect 
and dispense all the information procured by the work 
of the Department of Commerce in Washington and by 
organizations interested in trade the world over. It 
keeps lists of firms in other countries, with facts and 
figures showing what they specialize in, how reliable 
they are; in short, everything that a business man 
in Philadelphia would like to know. Its translation 
department, for a reasonable sum, will help with the 
merchant's foreign correspondence. It publishes in 


GETTING A LIVING 


265 


both English and Spanish a paper called Commercial 
Americaf and circulates this abroad to attract the 
attention of foreign merchants to the advantages 
of the United States as a country in which to pur¬ 
chase goods. 

3. For the General Public ,—Although the employees 
and employers have their separate organizations for 
furthering their particular interests, there are other 
private enterprises which have been undertaken with 
a view of supplying the needs of the community as a 
whole. One of these is our banking system. This makes 
it possible to transfer large sums of money from one 
person in our city to another person far away, merely 
by mailing a piece of paper. A man whose credit is 
good and who offers acceptable securities can, if an emer¬ 
gency calls for it, borrow money from his bank at a reason¬ 
able rate of interest. The banks not only keep our money 
safer than we can at home, but also pay us interest for that 
privilege. The banks of the city maintain a “clearing 
house” for their mutual convenience, assistance, and pro¬ 
tection. Here all the checks and drafts received in the 
city banks are balanced, doing away with the innumerable 
transactions between individual banks which would other¬ 
wise be necessary. The building and loan associa¬ 
tions which are so justly popular as an agency of invest¬ 
ment are all private undertakings. So, too, are the 
companies organized to give various kinds of insurance. 
Many important insurance companies have their homes 
in Philadelphia. 

Governmental Agencies Which Aid in Getting a Liv¬ 
ing.—The community is so interested in seeing to it 
that private enterprises are conducted for the benefit 


266 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


of the community as a whole, that government regula¬ 
tion and supervision is provided in many cases. 

1. The Government and Industry .—Especially is this 
true of the industries, for if the workers were not safe¬ 
guarded by governmental provisions the conditions of 
work might be such as to cause undue illness or unemploy¬ 
ment and thus react on the welfare of the community. 
The city has not the power to make provisions regulating 
labor conditions. This function belongs to the state, 
but the city joins with the state in enforcing the laws. 
The Child Labor Act of 1915 forbids the employment 
of children under fourteen, and the working of children 
under sixteen for more than nine hours a day or fifty- 
one hours a week, including eight school hours. This 
is the law which provides for continuation schools, so 
that minors receive some schooling up .to the age of 
sixteen. It regulates even up to the age of eighteen 
the kind of work which boys and girls may do. Such 
dangerous occupations as the manufacturing of paints, 
tobacco, and alcohol are prohibited for minors under 
sixteen. 

Another law requires that boys under sixteen and all 
female workers be given not less than forty-five minutes 
for the midday meal, except when the hours of labor 
per day are short. Nor was it considered advisable 
that women should have too long a working day or 
work too many hours in the week; so to prevent this 
an act was passed in 1913 which forbids the employ¬ 
ment of women for more than six days or fifty-four 
hours in any one week, and prohibits their employment 
for more than ten hours in any one day. Night work 
is prohibited for women in manufacturing establish- 


GETTING A LIVING 


267 


ments, and for all boys under sixteen and all girls under 
eighteen. 

Of course, we should expect to find the laws for children 
and women more strict than those for men, but the state 
is nevertheless concerned that the ability of the men 
wage-earners to support themselves and their families 
should not be impaired. For this reason there are laws 
regulating the crowding of machinery in working rooms 
which might cause risk of injury to the employees, 
providing for adequate (250 cubic feet) air space for each 
person, and requiring the use of protective devices on 
dangerous machinery. Even these laws have been found 
insufficient, as employers often preferred paying fines 
for violating the laws to going to the expense sometimes 
entailed in complying with them. 

For the further protection of the worker, the Work¬ 
men’s Compensation Act was passed in 1915. In case 
an employee is injured the employer pays certain medical 
and hospital expenses, and pays to the worker (or to his 
family, in case death results) an amount of money based ^ 
on the wages the employee received and on the serious¬ 
ness of the injury. This is not compulsory but optional; 
neither employees nor employers are forced to comply 
with it. But it has been found to the employers’ interest 
to do so, as certain legal advantages which employers 
formerly had in lawsuits were removed by this same 
law, so that if the case did not come voluntarily through 
the compensation provisions but went into the law courts 
the workmen had every advantage. A special board— 
the Workmen’s Compensation Board—administers the 
cases which come up under this act. This board comes 
under the state Department of Labor and Industry. 


268 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Besides the laws we have mentioned, there are still 
others, such as the Fire Drill Act, providing for monthly 
fire drills in factories where women are employed, the 
Lead Poisoning Act, requiring sanitary precautions 
and appliances’’ in certain establishments—all for the 
purpose of preventing people from working under condi¬ 
tions which might endanger their lives or lessen their 
ability to take care of themselves. 

Various bureaus of the state Department of Labor 
and Industry have charge of enforcing these laws through¬ 
out the state, but in Philadelphia some of the city officials 
cooperate. The Bureau of Compulsory Education, 
for instance, enforces the Child Labor Act, and it is the 
duty of the Department of Public Safety to enforce the 
Fire Drill Act. 

The state Department of Labor and Industry has, 
in accordance with the law passed June 4, 1915, under¬ 
taken another activity designed to help people to be 
self-supporting. It has established an employment 
•bureau, with its central office at Harrisburg. The 
main purpose of this act is to reduce unemployment, 
to help the man or woman out of work to get a position; 
because every day that a man is out of a job costs him 
his daily wage and costs the community the value of his 
labor. Employers seeking employees and persons seek¬ 
ing employment are brought into communication with 
each other, so that both are benefited. The people 
in charge of these offices are also supposed to study the 
problem of unemployment and try to think out means 
of preventing it. The Philadelphia branch office on 
Arch Street, in the one month of July, 1916, received 
requests from employers for 591 workers. They had 


GETTING A LIVING 


269 


787 applications and referred 551 persons to positions. 
Of this number, 507 received the positions to which they 
had been referred. There is also a branch office in 
Kensington. The state operates this bureau without 
charge to employer or employee, and pays the cost out 
of the taxes collected from the people at large because 
it is the general public that in the end derives most 
benefit from the work of the bureau. 

2. The Government and Commerce .—Transportation of 
raw materials, of finished products, of people to and 
from their places of work, plays such an important part 
in the business life of the city that here again the organized 
will of the community finds expression in government 
regulation and aid. The part played by the Depart¬ 
ment of City Transit in securing rapid and safe street 
car transportation is discussed elsewhere. The state 
Public Service Commission also concerns itself with the 
transportation question within the city. Since the 
railroads coming into Philadelphia do an interstate 
business, the decisions of the federal Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission regulate the rates charged, both 
freight and passenger, and the accommodations offered. 

In view of the size of our export and import trade, 
the use made of the port facilities concerns not only 
the city but the state and the nation. Then, too, the 
geographic position of Philadelphia is such that the 
development of the port cannot be the business of our 
city alone, nor even of the state of Pennsylvania. The 
work of the city Department of Wharves, Docks, and 
Ferries in supervising the water front, of the state Com¬ 
missioners of Navigation in regulating river traffic, and 
of the Army Engineers of the federal government in 


270 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


maintaining and deepening the channel has already been 
discussed in a previous chapter. 

That our export trade is a matter df interest to the 
national government is shown by the work of the Bureau 
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. This bureau 
stands ready to furnish anyone who asks it information 
regarding climate, products, transportation, tariff rates, 
language, customs of dress, and food in foreign lands. 
These have been carefully collected in reports by American 
consuls and supplemented by the work of special agents. 
Moreover, they are all classified, and usually written 
up and printed in convenient form. Every day this 
bureau issues Commerce Reports, a newspaper con¬ 
taining important information collected by all the bureaus 
of the department. Anyone can get this at a very low 
’cost. One manufacturer, however active and diligent, 
could not unaided collect for himself all the important 
facts, for instance, about the use of sewing machines in 
Chile. The furnishing of such aid in making business 
successful is the reason for the existence of this bureau 
of the federal Department of Commerce. 

In another way the federal government affects the 
business life of Philadelphia. Every time a new law 
dealing with the tariff (duty levied on imported goods) 
comes up in Congress all the business men are greatly 
concerned. Most of the great industries of our city, 
especially the textile industry, have been protected by 
the very high tariff from the competition of foreign 
industries. The tariff law now in operation is the Under¬ 
wood Tariff of 1913, and in it the rates generally are 
lower than they have been since before the Civil War. 

3. The Government and Finance .—As was' the case 


GETTING A LIVING 


271 


in connection with industries, the city government does 
not have the power of making laws to regulate financial 
transactions. The state of Pennsylvania, however, 
has helped our banking system to attain its present 
height of efficiency by making and enforcing through 
its Banking Commissioner laws to prevent speculation 





{Courtesy of the Public Ledger) 
INTERIOR OF A TEXTILE MILL 

with bank funds, or other unsound practices. State 
laws also regulate the handling of money by the building 
and loan associations, so that people who invest their 
savings in the stock of these organizations run slight 
risk of being defrauded. The insurance companies come 
under the supervision of the Insurance Commissioner. 
Another government agency to prevent fraud is the 
Patent Office at Washington, a bureau of the Depart- 







272 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


ment of the Interior. By applying for a patent here 
an inventor is assured of the exclusive right to make 
and sell his invention for the term of seventeen years. 

Business conditions in Philadelphia are often affected 
by the financial state of the country as a whole. ^In 
order to lessen the danger of panics President Wilson 
succeeded in getting Congress to pass, in December, 
1913, the Federal Reserve Act. This divided the United 
States into twelve districts in each of which is located 
a Federal Reserve Bank. As has been said, Philadelphia 
is the center of one of these districts. These banks do 
not receive deposits from nor make loans to individuals. 
They are, as the name indicates, reserve banks in which 
each of the banks of the district deposits a certain per¬ 
centage of its reserve. The national banks, getting 
their charter from the federal government, must join 
the system; the state banks are urged to join. This 
system is designed to assist the banks over times of 
financial stringency; for when a member bank desires 
to issue notes it can sell to its reserve bank commercial 
paper”—that is, the notes of individuals it may be 
holding—and receive '^reserve notes” to circulate as 
money. Thus an emergency currency is quickly avail¬ 
able. This system has proved its value to the business 
men of the country many times since the great war 
began in 1914. 

Conclusion.—These various agencies, private and pub¬ 
lic, may not seem to affect directly all the two million 
citizens of Philadelphia. In the long run, however, 
each individual is affected by what concerns the larger 
community—the city, the state, or the nation. And 
while men may band themselves together to further 


GETTING A LIVING 


273 


the interests of one section of the city or of one class 
of the people in the city, the interests of the small group 
ultimately are those of the large community. The 
task of the government is to supplement the work done 
by the private agencies in promoting the business life 
of the city, and to direct their activities into lines helpful 
to the whole. As the chief interest of most people is 
in getting a living, so the community takes a vital interest 
in the opportunities given the individual. It shows 
this interest early in the life of each person, in providing 
for his education and compelling him, for his own good, 
to spend a fixed number of years in school. In this 
school the varied courses begin an actual preparation 
for getting a living. Later, in industry, the interest 
of the community is expressed in the laws aiming to 
help the individual to remain self-supporting, and in 
agencies to widen the opportunities afforded by the city. 
In all these ways the community is acting in its own 
interest, too, for of course from the person prepared 
for earning his living and assisted in that task the com¬ 
munity expects a return of increased efficiency and 
loyalty. 


18 


CHAPTER XIII 


Charities 

Just as city conditions make the problem of preserving 
health more difficult, so also they make it harder to be 
sure that every person in distress finds a good neighbor 
when he needs one. In trying to supply all the forms 
of neighborliness that may be required in a city, a very 
elaborate and complicated system has grown up. The 
more modern term social service’’ better expresses 
what the various institutions and societies are trying 
to accomplish, if with the older term charity” is asso¬ 
ciated only the giving of alms. 

Cooperation of Public and Private Agencies.—Let us 
see first what the city in its public capacity does for its 
poor. If some neighbor should tell a policeman that a 
poor widow was very ill and her children needed care 
in a certain house, what would he do? After making 
sure the story was true, he would send for the ambulance 
of the Philadelphia General Hospital at Thirty-fourth 
and Pine Streets, where they would all be taken. The 
woman would be first admitted to the receiving ward. 
If she was well enough she would be questioned by a 
member of the Social Service Department as to the 
history of her case, thus helping her doctor and assisting 
in determining the best care for the children. Then 
after examination she would be placed in the proper ward. 

If one of the children was found to be feeble-minded, 
he would be brought before the Municipal Court and 

( 274 ) 


CHARITIES 


275 


committed to the care of the Children’s Department, 
thus becoming a ward of the city. He would then 
probably be boarded out in a supervised home, and 
later, if room could be found for him, sent to the State 
Institution for the Feeble Minded at Spring City, when 
he would become a ward of the state. The other child, 
being mentally normal, would be boarded out temporarily 
in one of the private agencies or homes for the care of 
dependent children. This agency might be the Children’s 
Bureau, 419 South Fifteenth Street, where he would 
be kept at the shelter which it supervises until the out¬ 
come of the mother’s sickness was determined. Here 
he would be given a thorough physical examination 
and receive any needed treatment. If the mother should 
die, the child would become a permanent ward of the 
Department of Public Welfare, and would continue 
to be boarded out, perhaps through the Children’s 
Aid Society. Meanwhile the record of this family 
would be looked up in the Registration Bureau, 425 
South Fifteenth Street, and if at an earlier date some 
society had helped them, that society would be informed 
and its cooperation secured. In any event, the fact 
of the present work being done would be recorded for 
future reference, thus helping to make a sensible, con¬ 
tinuous effort out of what might have been disjointed, 
inefficient work by a variety of “neighbors,” neither 
of whom knew the other. This bureau, where most 
of the Philadelphia charitable agencies register their 
cases, affords an excellent example of a city need which 
would not arise in a rural community. 

In the story of this family one fact is evident—the 
cooperation between public and private agencies. This 



276 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


is especially true in the care of children. The city very 
properly does not allow children to be kept in its insti¬ 
tutions for adults. When they are received at the 
Children’s Department at Thirty-fourth and Pine Streets 
they are examined by a physician, and if ill they are 
sent to the children’s hospital, which is outside the 
grounds; or, if ready for placing, they are distributed 
among various agencies—the Children’s Aid, Catholic 
and Jewish institutions. Home Missionary Society, etc. 

Feeble-Minded Children.—^A distinct problem is pre¬ 
sented by the feeble-minded children, who constitute 
about one-fourth the number handled by this depart¬ 
ment. It is the accepted theory that the state should 
care for all the feeble-minded. They need care by 
specially trained attendants and teachers. A variety 
of indoor and outdoor occupations should be provided 
that will make all the higher grade feeble-minded self- 
supporting. This can best be done on a large scale in 
a sort of village or colony. Pennsylvania now maintains 
two institutions, one for the western part of the state 
at Polk, and one for the eastern part at Spring City. 
There is also under construction a state home for feeble¬ 
minded women. The present state provision is entirely 
inadequate, but the city, hoping for a better day to 
arrive, has not built an institution of its own for the 
care of these unfortunates. Nearly three hundred 
Philadelphia children are placed at Spring City. At 
Elwyn there is a private institution receiving state aid 
which cares for over three hundred more, and fifty are 
being boarded in supervised private homes. But this 
provision is by no means adequate, and feeble-minded 
adults are to be found in the city homes for indigent 


CHARITIES 


277 


men and women and in the insane hospitals. It is 
only since 1913 that the court could commit for feeble¬ 
mindedness just as it does for insanity, that is, put the 
feeble-minded person under the guardianship of the 
city or state. The community now is beginning to 
awaken to the seriousness of feeble-mindedness; to 
realize that it descends from parent to child; and to 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Charities) 
WOMAN’S DEPARTMENT. SPRING, HILL 


believe that feeble-minded persons should not marry, 
but should in most instances be cared for throughout 
life in farm colonies or in other institutions. 

Homeless Men and Women.—Now let us suppose 
it is a man who is found sick and homeless in Philadelphia. 
He is received, like the woman already described, at 
the General Hospital and treated until well enough 
to leave the sick wards. If he can go to work right 
away he may be helped by the Social Service Department 




278 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to get a job, through*the state Bureau of Employment 
at 1519 Arch Street. If he needs convalescent care 
he will be sent to the Men’s Outward” at Hohnesburg. 
Here in a home overlooking the Delaware, large enough 
to accommodate 1,500 men, he may stay permanently 
if he does not become able to support himself. There 
is a large, finely equipped bakery at this home where, 
with the help of the inmates, all the bread used in the 
charity institutions controlled by the city is baked. 
This home is designed primarily as a home for the 
indigent and has no special fitness for a convalescent 
home. Several private institutions offer free convalescent 
care to women, but there is a lack in Philadelphia charities, 
both public and private, in the care of convalescent men. 

The indigent women are housed partly in one building 
of the Commercial Museum at Thirty-fourth and Pine 
Streets, and partly at what was once a fine country 
residence at Spring Hill Farm, generally known as 
Brown’s Farm, not far from the men’s home. As soon 
as the city appropriates enough money to build more 
houses at the new location, all the indigent women will 
be transferred to it. Occupation is found in sewing for 
those who are able to work, making articles needed in the 
institutions. The home at Spring Hill Farm is very 
attractive with its sun-parlor overlooking the river, 
its vegetable gardens, cared for by some of the indigent 
men from Holmesburg, and its generally home-like air. 

It is only since 1910 that Philadelphia has begun to 
move its charitable institutions to the northeastern 
outskirts of the city. Before that they were all at 
Thirty-fourth and Pine Streets—so-called Blockley, from 
the name of the township when the almshouse was 


CHARITIES 


279 


located there in 1834. The increase in the city’s popula¬ 
tion caused very serious overcrowding before the present 
transfer began. The old idea of an almshouse, one 
which still exists in some country communities, is a 
place where all kinds of poor people are taken—men, 
women, and children, sick and well, sane, insane, epileptic, 
and feeble-minded. That is what the Philadelphia 



FARM WORK AT BYBERRY 

Out-of-door work is one of the best means of restoring mental health 

almshouse was at the beginning of this century. Of 
course there was an attempt to classify the different kinds, 
but when you crowd over five thousand people into five 
acres of ground you cannot keep them well separated 
or make them very comfortable. The noisy insane 
patients are likely to disturb others, children catch 
each other’s infectious diseases, and feeble-minded and 
mildly insane people who could be happy out of doors 
at work are housed up in dull idleness. 




280 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The Insane.—Although modern practice favors state 
care of the insane, for the same reason as of the feeble¬ 
minded, Pennsylvania has not yet adopted it in a thor¬ 
oughgoing fashion. So Philadelphia has had to build 
its own asylum at Byberry, also in the northern part 
of the city. This is not entirely completed, but some 
buildings are already in use and over eight hundred 
men and women have been transferred there. Here 
a model farm gives outdoor occupation to the mildly 
insane men and often helps to restore them to health. 
The handwork for insane women is planned with special 
reference to their reeducation and contributes greatly 
toward their improvement. 

Philadelphia General Hospital.—The part of the 
institution at Thirty^fourth and Pine Streets which will 
doubtless remain there for many years to come is the 
Philadelphia General Hospital, a huge institution caring 
for over two thousand patients and all types of disease. A 
generous appropriation by the city in 1915 made it possible 
to install many needed improvements: a new nurses^ 
home, a finely equipped pathological laboratory, a power 
house outside the grounds, a modern diet kitchen, and, 
what was equally important, gallons and gallons of fresh 
paint. Not all of these improvements are completed, 
but all are under way. 

The hospital is built around four sides of a hollow 
square—a huge white building, inside heavy white¬ 
washed walls, the whole enclosure covering five acres. 
It can be approached only from the east, that is, from 
Thirty-fourth Street, and very much needs access from 
the west. A bridge across the Schuylkill is also needed 
to bring South Philadelphia nearer. 



CHARITIES 


281 


The General Hospital and the Insane Hospital each has 
its chief resident physician. The children’s agent is 
also head of the Social Service Department, and accom¬ 
plishes a wonderful amount of work in both fields. 

In the Children’s Department over eight hundred 
children are brought to the city’s care in a year. The 
Social Service Department consists of a staff of workers 



PATIENTS CARING FOR CATTLE AT BYBERRY 


who find out about the home conditions of needy patients, 
and try to see to it that when they are discharged they 
do not go back to the old hard conditions. 

All that has been said as to Philadelphia public charity 
refers only to a portion of the city. Germantown, 
Bristol, Roxborough, Oxford and Lower Dublin, More¬ 
land, and Byberry, when they came into the city in 1854, 
all retained the right to manage their own charities and 
to be exempt from a corresponding portion of the city tax. 








282 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Department of Public Welfare. —With the coming into 
force of the city charter of 1919, the Department of 
Health and Charities, under which the Bureau of Charities 
operated, ceased to exist. Two new departments took its 
place, viz., the Department of Public Health (referred to 
in the chapter on ‘'Health'’), and the Department of 
Public Welfare, which absorbed the Bureau of Charities, 
the Bureau of Correction, and the Board of Recreation. 
The Department of Public Welfare has the care of all 
charitable, correctional, and reformatory institutions under 
the city’s control, and all public playgrounds and recrea¬ 
tion centers. 

Mothers’ Assistance Fund. —Another rather recent 
form of public aid to be established in Philadelphia is 
the Mothers’ Assistance Fund. Before various private 
societies, and later the state, began helping mothers 
in their own homes, it used to be the custom to let such 
a family be broken up. That is, the mother would have 
to place her children in homes of some sort while she 
went to work to support herself, perhaps paying a little 
towards their board. Then people began to see that 
since the children must be cared for it would be much 
better to let the mother, if she is a good one, train her 
children herself. 

So in 1913 the State Legislature passed an act creating 
such a fund for widowed mothers with two or more 
dependent children, half the amount to be contributed 
by the state and half by the counties of Pennsylvania 
which availed themselves of it. It is administered under 
the Department of Education, putting the emphasis 
on the fact that the mother is being helped to educate 
her children. At the Philadelphia office, 1414 South 



CHARITIES 


283 


Penn Square, there are a chief agent and four assistants 
who investigate cases and keep track of them, collecting 
the school reports of the children and advising as to 
living conditions and care of their health, until the 
arrival of the children at working age takes the family 
off the assisted list. At present they are administering 
an inadequate fund of some $60,000 a year, assisting 
about two hundred families, with a thousand more on 
' the waiting list. 

Private Associated Charities. —In addition to these 
public means of expressing the neighbor spirit, Phila¬ 
delphia, like all other great cities, has a vast number of 
private agencies that are trying in one way or another 
to help those who need it—children, old people, the 
crippled, and the handicapped of all sorts. The societies 
of a more general scope, and those which endeavor to 
centralize the other individual agencies, are located in 
the Charities Building, a rather hopeful name for a 
row of old residences on Fifteenth Street below Pine 
Street. These buildings have been altered to fit as well 
as possible the needs of half a dozen societies. The 
societies located here are the Children’s Bureau, the 
Registration Bureau, the Children’s Aid Society, the 
Society to Protect Children from Cruelty, the Seybert 
Institution, and the Society for Organizing Charity. 
Some time, it is to be hoped, Philadelphia will have a 
modern Charities Building in which her citizens can 
take pride; for the bringing together in one place of 
societies which work in conjunction is a great saving 
of time and effort. 

Dependent and Delinquent Children. —There are more 
than seventy-five institutions and agencies in and near 


284 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Philadelphia caring for dependent and delinquent chil¬ 
dren. From Girard College, ‘^probably the wealthiest 
orphanage in the world,’’ down to the private boarding 
homes, the problem of supervision and cooperation 
exists. To meet this want the Children’s Bureau was 
organized in 1907. It endeavors to prevent duplica¬ 
tion of work among the various agencies and to bring 



FEEDING CHICKENS AT BYBERRY 

about greater efficiency through round-table conferences, 
the publication of a periodical called Codyeration, and 
other means. The bureau at present reports an over¬ 
supply in Philadelphia of agencies admitting young 
children, who are often better cared for in supervised 
private homes, and a lack of those admitting boys and 
girls of ten years and over—an age at which institutional 
care, with industrial training and vocational guidance, 
often works best. A shelter is maintained where children 







CHARITIES 


285 


are kept during the investigation of their cases. It is 
very important that children, before being placed in 
institutions, should have a thorough medical examina¬ 
tion and not be placed with other children if they have 
communicable diseases. This work has been so thor¬ 
oughgoing that ^Tn no other city of the United States 
has the medical care of dependent children been so 
carefully developed as in Philadelphia.’’ 

The Children’s Aid Society of Pennsylvania is the 
chief child-placing agency, having on its list at present 
over eighteen hundred children from Philadelphia alone. 
When the Children’s Bureau decides that a child needs 
placing out and is physically fit for it, the Children’s 
Aid Society finds it a home—a temporary one if the 
child’s own home is likely to be restored, or a permanent 
one if that is needed. This will most likely be a boarding 
home, although a few children are legally adopted each 
year. The boarding homes are visited frequently until 
the boy or girl comes of age, while teachers and pastors 
make direct reports about the children to the society. 

The Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from 
Cruelty has its field of work indicated by its name. 
It is confining itself more and more to its own specialized 
work, leaving the child-placing, if that becomes neces¬ 
sary, to the agencies that exist for that purpose. Its 
office is open day and night, and its aid can always be 
secured for the protection of a child from cruelty or 
neglect. 

When the problem is not the child but the family 
as a whole, the chief agency for constructive work often 
combining that of many different agencies is the Society 
for Organizing Charity. With its central office and its 


286 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


thirteen branches, it undertakes to help people in their 
own homes, and over seven thousand families come 
under its care in a year. In each district there is a trained 
worker for superintendent, and a Friendly Visitor's 
Conference—a committee of volunteers who assist her. 
In many families who are assisted the money need is 
small. Sometimes no financial help at all is needed. 



{Courtesy of the Bureau of Charities) 
KITCHEN AT BYBERRY 


What is wanted is an organized, intelligent neighbor 
spirit to give advice and sympathy, and to help the 
family untangle problems of management that it never 
could have solved alone. The national and even inter¬ 
national character of organized charity makes it pos¬ 
sible for this society to reunite many families whose 
members have become widely separated. 

Jewish Charities. —Besides the center at the Charities 
Building at Fifteenth and Pine Streets, there are two 










CHARITIES 


287 


other centers for charitable work, the Federation of 
Jewish Charities and the Catholic Children’s Bureau. 
The headquarters of the Federation of Jewish Charities 
is at the Empire Building at Thirteenth and Walnut 
Streets. This is a financing society, somewhat on the 
plan of the ^^war chest,” which undertakes the support 
of thirteen related societies. These societies unite not 
only in their financial appeal but in their annual meeting 
and annual report, and work in close conjunction. Of 
these societies, the United Hebrew Charities corresponds 
rather closely to the Society for Organizing Charity, 
the Juvenile Aid to the Children’s Aid, and the Bureau 
for Jewish Children to the Children’s Bureau already 
described. 

Catholic Charities.—The Catholic Children’s Bureau 
at 1700 Summer Street is a diocesan institution, and is 
under the charge of the Director of Diocesan Missions. 
All the child-caring agencies of the diocese are super¬ 
vised from this office and a shelter is maintained for 
temporary care. The bureau does not itself give home 
relief, but when home relief is needed it works through 
a central children’s bureau conference of the St. Vincent 
de Paul Society. This is an international men’s society, 
organized in each parish, which does volunteer visiting 
and almsgiving in the homes where help is needed, as 
well as in prisons, almshouses, and hospitals. 

Financing and Standardizing of Charitable Work.— 
When the financing of these public and private charities 
is considered, the problem is a difficult one. The treas¬ 
uries of the state of Pennsylvania, of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, and private funds, all are drawn upon to bear 
this burden of dependency. The state spends annually 


288 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


nearly two million dollars in partially caring for Philadel¬ 
phians insane, feeble-minded, deaf, blind, and inmates of 
various private hospitals and homes. The city and county 
of Philadelphia spends something over two million dollars 
for the same purpose. Then, in addition to these four 
millions which are raised by taxation, there are all the 
funds raised by private subscription for the various pri¬ 
vate agencies. The greatest need in both city and state 
is for a centralizing body which shall untangle the finances, 
make some satisfactory plan as to the several responsi¬ 
bilities of city, state, and private agencies, plan a budget 
for the public appropriations, and help to standardize the 
relief given by both public and private agencies. 

There is a State Board of Charities which, if its powers 
were"enlarged, might find itself able to perform this much- 
needed service for the charities of the whole state. But 
an aroused and enlightened public opinion would be 
needed to back up the findings of this board and secure 
their embodiment in definite legislation. And already a 
private organization, known as the Public Charities Asso¬ 
ciation, has been formed to do this educational work. 

The Philadelphia citizen finds himself confronted with 
a variety of duties if he is to be a good neighbor to the 
unfortunate. He must pay his taxes, and must give of 
his private means to those charities that he selects as 
most deserving and most appealing. He must also give 
of his time in some of the ways in which volunteers are 
needed, for ^Hhe gift without the giver is bare.” And, 
finally, he must help to add to the number of well-informed 
people whose interest and effort will, we hope, some day 
bring about a cure of the social disease known as poverty. 


CHAPTER XIV 


The Courts and Law Officers 


Wherever men have organized themselves into com¬ 
munities, they have established courts to settle disputes 
between private individuals and to enforce the law. 
Everyone knows a city community has its laws and ordi¬ 
nances which must be obeyed if the city is to be a safe 
and pleasant place to live in. 

Another chapter will show us the significance of law and 
explain how laws are 
made for Philadelphia. 

At present we shall 
concern ourselves only 
with the way the courts 
interpret and apply 
the law in our city, 
either in the prosecu¬ 
tion of an offender or 
in a dispute between 
private citizens. The 
former is known as a 
criminal case, while the latter is known as a civil case. 

Magistrates’ Courts. —When you see a policeman pick 
up a drunken man on the street and drive off with him in 
the patrol wagon, do you wonder what becomes of him? 
Usually he is kept over night in a cell in the police station 
unless his friends come and bail him out. The persons 
acting as bail have to give a bond or some kind of security 

r289) 



(Courtesy of the Municipal Court) 

THE CHILDREN’S AUTO BUS 

Children on their way to court no longer ride 
in a police patrol. 


19 




290 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 



that the man will appear for trial. The next morning he 
is taken before a magistrate, who has come to the station 
house to hear cases. If he is not an old offender he is 

usually released on the pay¬ 
ment of a small fine, with the 
costs of the proceeding often 
added. 

The magistrates hear in the 
police station most of the 
cases of drunkenness, va¬ 
grancy, assault and battery, 
petty larceny, and breaches 
of the peace. They can also 
fine for such offenses as cruelty 
to animals and spitting on the 
sidewalk. They may sen¬ 
tence offenders in these cases, 
but for anything more serious 
they can simply hold the 
man for the grand jury. 
Then there is a central 
magistrate’s court in City 
Hall, which holds night as 
well as day sessions. In 
their own offices the magis¬ 
trates hear small suits relat¬ 
ing to bills, claims, rents, and 
other minor disputes relating to money matters up to 
one hundred dollars. 

There are twenty-eight magistrates elected by the 
people, two-thirds by the majority party and one-third 
by the minority, for the term of six years. The magis- 


(Courtesy of'jthe Municipal Court) 

GETTING CLEANED UP 

This is one of the first experiences in 
the House of Detention. 











THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 291 


trates are usually not trained in the law, and no record is 
kept of the proceedings in their courts. Now that the 
Municipal Court has been established, many of the civic 
bodies of the city have recommended that the magistrates^ 
courts be abolished. But it is difficult to make any change, 
for the office of magistrate is provided for in the state 
constitution. 

Municipal Court.—In 1914 the Municipal Court was 
founded. It was hoped that this would somewhat relieve 
the burden of work on the upper courts, and also would 
take many cases away from the magistrates and pave the 
way for their abolition. These hopes to a considerable 
extent have been realized. 

Under the new arrangement the Juvenile Court (already 
established) became a division of the Municipal Court. 
The other divisions are: domestic relations, misdemean¬ 
ants, criminal, and civil. We shall consider the divisions 
in that order. 

Juvenile Division ,—Philadelphia has no parental 
school; therefore, a boy or girl who plays truant from 
school too many times is likely to be taken to the Juvenile 
Court and brought before the judge. There was a time 
when a child who broke the law, either in this way or in 
some other, would be given a hearing in the same court¬ 
room with the adults, who might be there for drunken¬ 
ness, theft, or various other offenses. He might be given 
a ride in a patrol wagon and locked up over night in a 
police station. This was not good for the child. 

In 1903 the present Juvenile Court law was passed in 
Pennsylvania; this made it possible to deal with children 
who do wrong in a separate court to which the public is 
usually not admitted. The judge acts as a sort of parent, 


292 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


representing the interest which the community has in the 
welfare of every boy and girl; and he tries to find out, 
with the assistance of probation officers and others, why 
the child has failed to observe the rules which everybody 
has accepted. Bad home conditions or an undeveloped 



(Courtesp of the Municipal Court) 
PRELIMINARY HEARING 

This boy is being questioned in a friendly way to determine whether or not he shall be 
brought before the court. 

mind make it hard for some children to get on in the 
world. Consequently they have to be looked after, either 
at home by a probation officer sent by the judge, or in an 
institution where they will receive the training necessary 
to get along in the world. 

Probation work began about thirty years ago, and 







THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 293 


during the past ten years has grown wonderfully through¬ 
out the country. Many courts now have one or more 
persons attached to them whose special work is to furnish 
guidance to people, young or old, who get into trouble and 
are brought to the court. The probation officer makes a 



{Courtesy of the Municipal Court) 
CHILDREN WAITING TO BE EXAMINED 


point to find out all about the man, woman, or child con¬ 
cerned so that the court can deal intelligently with the case. 

There is a House of Detention connected with the 
Juvenile Court, where boys and girls may be held await¬ 
ing trial or pending the settlement of their cases. While 
in the House of Detention children attend school and also 
get whatever medical attention they require. 








294 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The Juvenile Court is not a place where punishment is 
meted out, but a place where children who have made a 
misstep will receive sympathetic treatment in the effort to 
prevent a recurrence of the trouble. Judge Ben Lindsey 
of Denver is the best known juvenile court judge in the 
world. Nearly everyone has heard or read about him. 

Another work of the Juvenile Court is the care of poor 
children whose parents, through misfortune or neglect, 

cannot support them. 
In case of misfortune, 
they are kept with their 
parents and an order is 
made on the county for 
their support. In case 
of neglect or vice or 
intemperance of parents, 
they are sent to institu¬ 
tions or boarded out 
with strangers at the 
expense of the county. 

This boy is being tested to determine whether The theory is that the 

he is normal. r ^ 

family is the foundation 
of the state, and that it should be kept together if 
possible. The Juvenile Court can also deal with parents 
who are responsible for their children's wrongdoing. 

Domestic Relations Division ,—When the father of 
a family deserts, or does not do his duty by supporting his 
wife and children, the woman may complain to the 
Domestic Relations Division of the Municipal Court. 
An attempt is always made to get a man to do the right 
thing for his family. Sometimes he is made to pay a 
certain part of his wages each week to the court for his 






THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 295 


wife^s benefit, instead of to her directly. In the last 
resort he is sent to the House of Correction. 

_The methods in this court are immensely better than 
under the old system in the Quarter Sessions Court. 
The division has a number of probation officers and 
investigators. This court also deals with grown sons 



{Courtesy of the Municipal Court) 
HOUSE OF DETENTION 
Study and work in a pleasant, sunny room. 


and daughters who, being able, do not help support 
their needy parents. 

Misdemeanants^ Division ,—There is another branch of 
this court which is known as the misdemeanants’ branch. 
Here are brought young people over sixteen who for vari¬ 
ous reasons cannot be managed by their parents, and who 
stay out late at night on the streets or go with bad com¬ 
panions. 

Criminal Division .—Then there is the criminal division 







296 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


of the Municipal Court where persons are brought 
for stealing, fighting, reckless driving, and other offenses 
against persons and property. Here also offenders are 
often given an opportunity to pay back what they have 
stolen or to make good while on probation. If, however, 
a probationer does not live up to the conditions under 
which he is released, he is brought in and fined or sentenced 
to jail or prison. 

Civil Division .—In the civil division of the court 
suits are brought for wages, damages for personal injuries^ 
and numerous small claims. The court tries to settle 
claims promptly, and hopes eventually to make it pos¬ 
sible for a poor man to conduct his own case if necessary. 
Many cases are heard without a jury. 

Continuity.—The policy is to keep the same judge 
sitting in a particular branch so that he will acquire skill 
in handling a certain class of cases. In Chicago there is a 
court for traffic cases only, such as fast driving, in which 
the same judge sits continuously. 

The Jury.—^A jury is a body of twelve men selected 
from the assessor's list for the purpose of deciding the 
facts in each case. The judge guides them in matters of 
law and makes the final decision, known as a judgment, 
after they have settled the questions of fact by their 
verdict. It is unfortunate that under our system the 
judge, who is generally the most skilled person in court, 
has so little to do with settling the case. The plaintiff, 
who brings the suit, and the defendant, who is sued, may 
waive a trial by jury in civil but not in criminal cases. 
Article 6 of the Constitution of the United States prevents 
a man from doing this, on the theory that he cannot risk 
his freedom. In England the jury system is rapidly being 



THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 297 


abandoned, and there is a tendency in that direction in 
the United States. 

The fees for beginning suit in the Municipal Court are 
still too high, being the same as in the Court of Common 
Pleas. This tends to throw the small claims into the 
magistrates’ courts, which can decide claims up to one 
hundred dollars. However, claims amounting to more 
than $5.33 can be appealed to the Court of Common 
-Tieas. n-: -Jf, .^> 1 . ^_ 


A Lawsuit.—Suppose a man cannot collect a bill for 
five hundred dollars which is owing to him, so he insti¬ 
tutes a suit in the Alunicipal Court. After the claim has 
been filed, the proper papers served on the man who 
owes the money, known as the defendant, his answer 
filed, and the day fixed for trial, the suit is ready to 
be heard. 

First, the plaintiff’s attorney—the plaintiff is the man 
bringing the suit—states his side of the case; and tells 
what evidence he proposes to introduce to sustain his 
claim. The defendant’s attorney then does the same for 
his side of the case. Witnesses for the plaintiff are then 
questioned by the plaintiff’s attorney and cross-questioned 
by the defendant’s attorney; after which the process is 
reversed, and the defendant’s witnesses are questioned 
and cross-questioned. (Had this suit been brought in the 
Court of Common Pleas, the witnesses for the plaintiff 
would have been heard before the defendant’s side was 
presented at all.) The defendant’s lawyer then makes a 
closing argument, and the plaintiff’s lawyer makes the 
final argument. The judge now instructs the jury, if 
there is one, how to apply the law to the facts in hand. 
After retiring from the room the jury returns and renders 


298 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


its verdict.’’ That is, it finds from the facts and the law 
in the case whether the defendant owed the money to the 
plaintiff. The defeated party may ask for another trial, ' 
which is either granted or refused by the trial judge. This 
ends the case, unless it is later appealed to a higher court. 

Appeals. —If either party is not satisfied with the result 
of a civil case before a magistrate, he may appeal to the 
Court of Common Pleas. Likewise in some criminal 
cases the defendant (person on trial) may appeal to the 
Court of Quarter Sessions. The same judges preside in 
both these courts. All appeals from the Municipal Court 
are heard by the Superior Court. All constitutional 
questions are finally decided by the Supreme Court. 

Common Pleas Court. —^The judges of the Common 
Pleas courts are elected by popular vote. In Philadelphia 
there are five courts of Common Pleas with three judges 
for each. They are all courts of record; that is to say, 
the proceedings are all recorded so as to be permanent. 
In these courts are begun nearly all cases involving any 
large amounts of money, such as suits on contracts and 
on personal injuries or torts. They also have equity 
jurisdiction. By this is meant that where there is no 
adequate remedy at law they will help the injured party. 

Torts. —Most of the cases of personal injuries come 
under the head of torts. The biggest class of cases comes 
out of personal injuries sustained on public conveyances, 
trains, and trolleys. 

Contracts. —A contract is an agreement between two or 
more parties to do or not to do a certain thing. It is the 
business of the courts when there is a dispute to ascertain 
whether there is a contract, and if so, what was the 
intention of the parties in making the contract. 


THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 299 


Criminal Courts.—The same judges sit in the Court of 
Quarter Sessions of the peace and the Court of Oyer and 
Terminer and general jail delivery. These are the two 
criminal courts in which are tried nearly all offenders held 
by the magistrates or indicted by the grand jury. The 
former tries all lesser crimes, while the latter tries cases 
involving murder or manslaughter. 

Grand Jury.—The grand jury is composed of twenty- 
three men selected by lot from the list of registered voters. 
They hear the evidence against various people, and if 
they feel that the facts are strong enough they return 
what is known as ^^a true bilF^ or indictment. The 
indicted man then goes to trial. If they do not feel that 
the evidence against the person is sufficient they return 
the bill ^ignored. 

The grand jury is supposed to visit the public build¬ 
ings in the county, such as the poorhouse and the prisons. 
It also makes investigations occasionally into matters 
regarding the morals of the community. The men first 
selected for jury service are known as veniremen; the 
men called later, after the panel or list of men summoned 
is exhausted, are called talesmen. 

Orphans’ Court.—The Orphans’ Court has charge of 
the estates of deceased persons, and account has to be 
made to it for the distribution of the estates. It also 
appoints guardians for minors to whom property has 
been left. This court is one of great importance, because 
in its hands rest the welfare and happiness of many 
widows and children. 

Superior Court.—The Superior Court was created in 
1895, to relieve the pressure on the Supreme Court from 
the numerous appeals from lower courts. These appel- 


300 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


late courts do not hear witnesses and do not have a jury. 
They take up only questions of law, based on alleged 
errors before the trial court. The law of evidence is 
intended to keep a case within certain bounds, so that the 
parties (litigants) shall try to establish their contention 
in the most direct manner and with the best evidence 
procurable. For example, if you were the only witness 
of an accident you would be the best one to testify and 
not your brother whom you told about what you saw. 
If the appellate court finds that the law has not been 
properly interpreted in regard to a case, it orders a new^ 
trial, or it may reverse or affirm the decision of the court 
below. 

On the criminal side the Superior Court hears all appeals 
from the Court of Quarter Sessions, and from Oyer and 
Terminer except cases of murder which go directly to the 
Supreme Court. It hears all appeals from the Common 
Pleas and the Orphans’ Court not involving more than 
fifteen hundred dollars. Under certain circumstances 
cases may be appealed from this court to the Supreme 
Court, especially if the state or federal constitution is 
involved. 

Supreme Court.—The Supreme Court, as its name 
suggests, is the highest court in the state and is the final 
court of appeal within the state. In a few instances cases 
may originate in this court. As in the Superior Court, 
the judges consider only questions of law, all facts having 
been settled by juries in the trial courts below. No law 
enacted by the legislature really becomes a fixed part of 
the whole body of law until it has finally been passed upon 
by this court, and declared to be in agreement with the 
constitutions of the United States and of Pennsylvania. 


THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 301 


Of course, many cases go on to the Supreme Court of the 
United States for final settlement, but this is the excep¬ 
tion rather than the rule. 

Reform of the Courts.—In recent years our courts have 
come in for a great deal of criticism. Many people have 
felt that the poor man has no chance because he does not 
have money enough to carry his case up to higher courts 
and to pay lawyers^ fees. Fortunately the courts them¬ 
selves are trying to overcome this feeling by doing every¬ 
thing they can to give a man with little or no money a 
chance. In Los Angeles there is a Public Defender who 
sees to it that the defendants get a fair trial. 

Moreover, it has been urged that the courts are slow 
in getting their business disposed of. It is true that our 
courts are not so well organized as those of England, where 
not only the bench but also the bar is so organized as to 
give the best results. Furthermore, the very court pro¬ 
cedure itself and the law of evidence have been very 
difficult for the ordinary person to understand and very 
easy for a lawyer who is dishonest to turn to his own ends, 
which may not be those of justice. Under these conditions 
men who are really guilty of crime often escape punishment 
and no doubt sometimes those who are not guilty suffer. 

Our courts and our associations of lawyers are thinking 
and working on these problems. The courts do not claim 
to be perfect and therein lies the hope of reform. The 
people are not made for the law but the law for the people. 
The courts are only social agencies, like the school or the 
Department of Public Works. 

Methods of Selecting Judges.—There are three methods 
of selecting state judges: (1) election by the people, (2) 
appointment by the Governor, and (3) election by the 


302 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Legislature. The first is the most common method and 
the third is very rare. All judges in Pennsylvania are 
elected. Some people feel that better judges would be 
secured through appointment by the Governor than by 
popular election. The federal judges are all appointed 
by the President. 

Appointive Power of Judges.—The Board of Judges of 
the Common Pleas Court in our city has, in addition to 
judicial powers, appointive powers. The members of the 
Board of Education are appointed by the judges, likewise 
the Board of City Trusts, the Board of Viewers, the Board 

of Revision of Taxes, the Fairmount Park Commission, 
Inspectors' of County Prisons, and others. This power 

was placed in the hands of the judges in the belief that 
the important matters with which these boards had to 
deal would thus be better managed. Some of Phila¬ 
delphians most distinguished citizens have served in 
these appointive offices. 

License Court.—These same judges, moreover, sitting 
as members of the Quarter Sessions Court, also have the 
responsibility of granting liquor licenses. This duty often 
brings them severe criticism, especially when they per¬ 
mit a saloon to open in a neighborhood where many resi¬ 
dents oppose it. The question of prohibition and local 
option is becoming increasingly important, and people 
do not like to have this matter so completely out of their 
control and placed in the control of the courts. 

The Bar.—Lawyers as a group are spoken of as “the 
bar.’’ To be admitted to the bar nowadays in most states 
requires many years of study and a vigorous examination. 
This is true especially in Pennsylvania. In recent years 
the standards for admission to practice law in the courts 


THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 303 


have been raised. Unfortunately, the legal profession has 
become somewhat of a business. Some men have often 
gone into it to make money rather than primarily to see 
that justice is done. However, our state and national bar 
associations and our university law schools seem to be on 
the road to produce the right kind of lawyers. 

Clerks of the Courts.—The Prothonotary is the clerk 
of all the civil courts in the county except the Orphans^ 
Court. He is appointed by the Board of Judges. He has 
a number of subordinates, for in a county like Philadelphia 
there is a large volume of work and much responsibility 
in keeping the court records. An additional clerk, elected 
by the people, is provided for the Quarter Sessions Court. 
It is not apparent why the Prothonotary should not 
render the same service for this court as he does for the 
others, nor why one should be appointed and the other 
elected. The criminal division of the Municipal Court 
comes under the clerk of Quarter Sessions. 

Tipstaves.—Every court has officers known as tip- 
staves, who are appointed by the judges. These men 
are merely attendants. 

Criers.—Every court has a crier who opens court by 
making a certain announcement when the judge enters 
the room. The form of this announcement is often amus¬ 
ing, since the criers are still using the same words that 
were used several hundred years ago. Everybody in the 
court room rises and stands until the judge takes his seat. 

Constables.—^Another officer, elected by the people, is 
known as the constable. He serves writs and does other 
work for the magistrates’ courts somewhat corresponding 
to that of the sheriff for the county courts. Each magis¬ 
trate has two or three connected with his office. 


304 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Prisons.—In Philadelphia we have the House of Cor¬ 
rection, the county prisons at Holmesburg and Moya- 
mensing, and the Eastern Penitentiary, which is a state 
prison. Moyamensing is used principally for those 
awaiting trial. 

Prison Reform.—We have seen how the courts are 
being reformed. The same thing is happening to the 
prisons and jails. Society has found that to put a man 
into a damp cell, feed him on bread and water, dress him 
up in stripes, and let him live in idleness, as used to be 
done and still is done to some extent, is not the way even 
to punish. Prison reform to-day aims at making the 
prisoner a better man by keeping him healthfully em¬ 
ployed, by providing opportunity for schooling and for 
learning a trade so that he can earn his living when he 
gets out, and by giving him new ideals of conduct. More¬ 
over, the modern prison does not believe in solitary con¬ 
finement, the striped suit, nor the lockstep. In other 
words, we want to make a man instead of to break him. 
Society wants to save even those who commit serious 
erimes. It wants to fit them for a return to a place in 
the world. There was a time when the lot of the released 
prisoner was a hard one. Nobody wanted to hire him if 
he had no references; but to-day there is more of a willing¬ 
ness to omploy him, especially if he has learned a trade. 
There are societies to help discharged prisoners. When 
Thomas Mott Osborne was warden of Sing Sing prison he 
established a Mutual Welfare League among the prisoners. 
This provided for self-government of the prison by thei 
men themselves and the plan worked splendidly. ' 

Indeterminate Sentence.—Many judges now, wherej 
the law permits, are not sentencing offenders for a definitej 


THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 305 


period, based on the seriousness of the crime, but for 
an indefinite period, usually with a minimum depending 
on their behavior while under confinement. In other 
words, a man^s stay in prison is determined by his own 
needs, such as education, moral training, a trade, by 
the way he improves while in prison, and by many other 
things. 

Parole.—Parole really follows the indeterminate sen¬ 
tence. The man when released gives his word that he 
will make good if he is freed. If he does not keep straight 
he is brought back to prison to serve out his complete 
sentence. 

Suspended Sentence.—One of the new ways of deal¬ 
ing with first offenders is to sentence them, and then to 
suspend sentence on condition that they give up drink, 
stop stealing, or abandon whatever it is that has brought 
them before the court. This has been found to be an 
excellent way of giving a man a chance while still keeping 
a firm hold on him in case he resumes his old ways. 

Capital Punishment.—Hanging and electrocution are 
known as capital punishment. This has been abolished 
in some states and life imprisonment is the most severe 
punishment. It is doubtful whether capital punishment 
reduces crime. 

Sheriff.—Turning now to some of the officials con¬ 
nected with the courts, we come to the Sheriff. The 
office of sheriff used to be much more important than 
it is to-day. This officer stands for, the peace of the 
county over which he has charge, but his police powers 
are rapidly dwindling. He keeps prisoners awaiting 
trial in the county jail, and his deputies serve warrants 
of arrest for the courts. His principal work is serving 


20 


306 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


writs, which mark the beginning of a lawsuit. He 
sells property to satisfy judgments secured in the courts; 
that is to say, if the losing party in a suit cannot pay, 
his property can be sold. He sells the property of those 
who fail to pay their taxes and gives notices of elections. 
He and the Coroner are county officers provided for by 
the constitution. 

Coroner.—The Coroner should really be a medical 
examiner and is so in some states. In Pennsylvania he 
is a sort of judicial officer, and assisted by the coroner^s 
physicians holds inquests or examinations into cases of 
sudden death. He has a jury consisting of six men, 
who render the final verdict. Some believe that the 
Coroner is no longer needed, and that under modern 
conditions all of his work can be done by the police 
with the assistance of medical advisers. 

City Solicitor.—^The City Solicitor is the legal adviser 
and attorney for the city. He conducts its cases in 
court; advises its officers; prepares and approves con¬ 
tracts; is required to make daily returns to the City 
Controller of all moneys received, including fees for 
preparation of contracts, bonds, etc.; approves all 
securities, and keeps a registry of contracts, bonds, etc. 
He is the head of the Department of Law, a new depart¬ 
ment created by the 1919 charter, and is appointed by 
the Mayor. Formerly he was elected by the people. 

District Attorney.—^The District Attorney is the prose¬ 
cuting officer in all criminal courts except those of the 
magistrates. Every crime is an offense against the 
commonwealth, and he represents the state in all these 
cases and sees that its rights are guarded. 

Recorder of Deeds.—There are two other county 


THE COURTS AND LAW OFFICERS 307 


officers whose duties are such as to bring them fairly 
under the designation of ^Taw officers.’’ These are the 
Recorder of Deeds and the Register of Wills. The 
Recorder of Deeds has charge of the records of all transfers 
of real estate from one person or corporation to another, 
and of all mortgages on real estate granted by the owner 
as security to someone who has presumably loaned him 
money. The recording of the deed is to protect the 
purchaser against a later fraudulent sale of the property, 
by the original owner, to a third party. The recording 
of the mortgage is to protect the holder of the mortgage 
against a later mortgage given by the owner to a third 
party, and also to show any purchaser just what incum¬ 
brances (debts) are against the property. 

Register of Wills.—This official is far more than a 
custodian of legal papers. He not only keeps the records 
of all wills probated, but he exercises judicial authority 
in the settling of estates. He admits wills to probate, 
deciding which will is valid when more wills than one are 
discovered. When no will can be found the Register 
of Wills appoints an administrator. He receives the 
final accounting from the executors or administrators 
and files it with the Orphans’ Court, of which he is 
ex-ofido the clerk. But it is to the judge of the Orphans’ 
Court that the executor or the administrator must 
look for discharge papers when the estate is finally 
settled. 

The County.—Frequent reference has been made to 
'^county” officials, so that a brief discussion of the 
county may be helpful to the reader. Counties are the 
principal subdivisions of the state or commonwealth. 
As public corporations they have the right to own property 


308 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


for public purposes, to sue and be sued, to erect public 
buildings, and even to lay and collect taxes. 

County officials not only enforce their own local 
ordinances, but they help to enforce state laws as well. 
Practically all of these officials are elected, which gives 
the people of each county a large measure of what is 
known as ^^home rule.’^ Other county officials, such 
as the county commissioners, not described in this 
chapter are mentioned in other chapters of the book. 

Since the Consolidation Act of 1854 the city of Phila¬ 
delphia has been extended to cover all of Philadelphia 
County. Unfortunately, as many people think, the 
city and county offices were not merged at the same 
time. As a result, there exists some overlapping of 
jurisdictions. Efforts have been made repeatedly to 
effect a real combination of city and county, with the 
elimination of unnecessary offices and a better assign¬ 
ment of duties to those that remain. 

County Officers in Philadelphia Elected by the People 

Sheriff 

Coroner 

Register of Wills 

Recorder of Deeds 

Three County Commissioners 

City Treasurer 

City Controller 

Clerk of the Courts 

District Attorney 

[Notwithstanding the fact that their titles seem to indicate 
that they are city officials, both the City Controller and the 
City Treasurer are county officials.] 


CHAPTER XV 


How THE City Laws are Made 

Commimities Need Rules and Regulations.—We have 
seen in previous chapters how by living closely together 
in cities and towns people secure certain benefits, such 
as protection from dangers, a greater number of con¬ 
veniences, advantages in trade and manufacture, streets 
and roads, sewage disposal, and assistance in many 
other ways. We have also seen how close living together 
creates certain bad conditions which must be carefully 
guarded against. There is constant need, therefore, 
for all of the members of the community to act together 
to increase the benefits and to overcome the evils. Accord¬ 
ingly, certain rules are made by the community as guides 
for the members. When these rules are made by cities 
we call them ordinances; when made by states or by 
the United States we call them statutes or laws. These 
may be for the purpose of prohibiting certain action 
on the part of persons, as for instance the laws against 
murder or burglary; or they may be for the purpose of 
planning and providing for community enterprises, 
such as streets and water works. The process of making 
laws and ordinances is known as legislation. The making 
and enforcing of these community rules is the essence 
of government. 

How the Rules are Made.—When self-governing com¬ 
munities are very small, it is possible for all the people 
to gather in one place to discuss matters of common 

( 309 ) 


310 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


interest and to decide what shall be done. In colonial 
times it was possible for all the townspeople to assemble 
in a church or a hall, where each person could express 
his views and cast his vote directly on all these matters 
of health, schools, police, streets, parks, and the many 
other things that the members of communities have in 
common. But as towns grew larger it became harder 
to hold meetings of all the citizens. So we have had 
to adopt the plan of choosing one person and letting 
him speak for a large number. A person so chosen is 
the representative of the group, and so we call this 
^Representative” government. The group which has 
such a representative is called the ‘Constituency” of the 
representative, and the individual persons of the group 
are known as “constituents.” 

Lawmaking in Philadelphia.—The lawmaking body of 
Philadelphia consists of twenty-one members, elected 
from the state senatorial districts of the city on a basis 
of one councilman for each twenty thousand voters, 
or major fraction thereof. This was one of the provisions 
of the new city charter, to take effect from the first 
Monday of January, 1920. 

Formerly the city government consisted of two parts: 
a Select Council, elected for four years, and a much larger 
Common Council, elected for two years. In 1919, the 
last year of the two-council body, there were forty-eight 
members of Select Council and ninety-seven members of 
Common Council, making a total of 145 members. 
These were elected from the wards of the city. 

With the compact body of twenty-one councilmen 
forming the City Council, which we have today, as the 
result of the revision of the charter, it is interesting to 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 311 


look back upon the city government as it was under the 
cumbersome two-chamber plan. 

If in 1918 we had wished to find out what kind of law¬ 
making body Philadelphia had, we would have visited 
two large rooms on the fourth floor on the north side of 
City Hall. These rooms, with high ceilings and galleries, 
paneled and decorated walls, had many desks facing a 
raised platform on which was a high desk. In one of the 
rooms there were more desks than the other. The 
Select Council held its meetings in the room with fewer 
desks. In the other room, with more numerous desks, 
sat the Common Council; 145 lawmakers in all. 

Had we made our visit when Councils were in session 
we should have seen the members, some sitting at desks 
strewn with papers, some standing around smoking and 
apparently paying no attention to anything, and others 
talking in groups of two and three. There was much 
noise and confusion. Once in a while the man sitting up 
on the high platform pounded the desk in front of him 
with a small mallet, called a gavel, and occasionally a 
clerk, who sat below him, would rise and read some docu¬ 
ment very rapjjily. At a table on one side, half a dozen 
reporters would be seen talking and occasionally scrib¬ 
bling down notes. Ordinarily it was very hard for visitors 
in the gallery to make out what legislative action was 
being taken. Once in a great while some man would 
make a speech to which the members would listen. 

This was the outward aspect of lawmaking in Phila- 
delphia’^prior to the new charter of 1919, but as a matter 
of fact the real work of the Select and Common Councils 
was done by committees. With the large number of 
matters that came before Councils, the large membership. 


312 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


and the limited time in most cases in which to act upon 
these matters, it became necessary to divide the work 
among smaller groups of councilmen known as joint 
standing committees, of which there were twenty-seven 
when the two-chamber Council was superseded by the 
single chamber. Each of these committees was composed 
of twenty-four members, twelve from each branch of 
Councils. In that way the work of one committee 
served both houses. The presidents of Councils appointed 
these members and were themselves members of all the 
committees. The appointments were made at the 
beginning of each session, and thereafter all matters 
pertaining to the subject assigned to the committee were 
referred to it. It was the duty of these committees to 
investigate these matters, to report back to the general 
body what they had found, and to make recommendations 
regarding proposed legislation. 

Some of these committees were assigned much more 
important duties than others. In fact, three of the 
twenty-seven committees were of more importance than 
all the rest combined. These three were the committees 
on Highways, on Surveys, and on Finance; and of these 
three the Finance Committee was by far the most impor¬ 
tant, for it made recommendations on all matters which 
involved the spending of money, which includes nearly 
everything the city does. 

A feature of this arrangement that stood in the way 
of truly representative government was the great power 
that the committees had. A committee was suppo::ed 
to have made an investigation on the bill referred to 
it, and hence its report had much weight with the other 
members and was usually accepted. On the other hand 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 313 

• 

a committee frequently did not bother to make any 
report at all if it did not approve of a proposed measure; 
and by thus neglecting the measure the committee could 
postpone discussion and a vote indefinitely. It had 
become so customary to sidetrack bills in this way that 
certain committees came to be known as' “pickling” 
committees. 

Some people thought that because we had a large 
number of councilmen the people were better represented 
than if we had a smaller number. But others pointed out 
that by the system of committees a few men could govern 
the city, and that so long as these men kept the people 
of their own small districts satisfied the rest of the city 
was powerless to get what it wanted. The latter argu¬ 
ment aided in the fight for the new charter. 7 

The New Charter.—Attempts were made at various 
times to change this inefficient method of governing the 
city, but it was not till 1919 that the two-council system 
was done away with and a single-chamber council 
substituted. The initiative was taken by a group of 
citizens who formed a Philadelphia Charter Committee 
and drafted a proposed bill which included among other 
things: the change from the Select and Common Councils 
to a single City Council; a Department of Law, with an 
appointive instead of an elective City Solicitor; a Depart¬ 
ment of Public Welfare, absorbing the Bureau of Charities, 
the Bureau of Correction, and the Board of Recrea¬ 
tion; a Department of Public Health, superseding the 
Bureau of Health; a City Purchasing Agent, replacing 
the Department of Supplies; a City Architect; a unified 
accounting system; a budget to be prepared annually 
by the Mayor from estimates furnished by the City 


314 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 

Controller and department heads; permission for the 
city to end the contractor system and do its own street¬ 
cleaning and kindred work; and drastic laws to purge 
the civil service of politics. Most of the provisions set 
forth in the Charter Committee's proposed bill were 
adopted. 

We are concerned here with the Council; the other 
items of the new charter are treated in the various 
chapters devoted to Health, Charities, the Civil Service, 
Recreation, etc. 

Under the old law, Councilmen were elected from the 
wards of the city, and the group which sent representatives 
to Select and Common Councils were very different in 
size. Philadelphia is divided up into forty-eight districts 
called wards. Some of the wards are many times larger 
than others. For instance, the Twenty-second Ward, the 
largest in population, has 70,000 inhabitants and 14,400 
voters. The Ninth Ward, on the other hand, has only 
5,000 persons and 900 voters. Yet each ward had the 
right to elect one member of Select Council. 

As for the Common Council, each ward was entitled to 
one member for every 4,000 men of voting age, but every 
ward might have at least one councilman. This worked 
out so that twenty-two wards each had one councilman, 
although they differed very much in population. The 
largest ward (40,000 people) with one common councilman 
is eight times larger than the smallest ward. There were 
marked irregularities also in the wards which had two 
or three common councilmen. 

So we see that the constituencies for councilmen in 
Philadelphia were very unequal in size, and therefore 
that the representation was unequally distributed. 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 315 


People came to think that the city ought to be reap¬ 
portioned or redistricted, as the process of revising and 
equalizing the constituencies is called. They also took 
the view that to have a legislative body divided into two 
parts was unnecessary, since in so many cases the select 
councilmen and the common councilmen represented the 
same constituency. It was found in practice in Philadel¬ 
phia that the two branches almost invariably agreed on all 
matters, and that the idea that one body^acted as a check 
on the other had no foundation in fact. It was also gen¬ 
erally acknowledged that the number of councilmen ought 
to be reduced. 

The Charter Committee agreed upon a single council 
and decided that it must be a small one. Ward represen¬ 
tation could not be continued, for to give all the wards, 
large or small, even one councilman each was not proper 
representation and hence clearly unfair, and would yield 
a body of forty-eight, which was much too large. 
Representation by legislative districts was also de¬ 
cided against as these are in almost the same degree 
unequal in population, the smallest legislative district 
having less than 3,600 voters, while the larger legislative 
districts have nearly 44,000. 

The Charter Committee finally agreed upon representa¬ 
tion by state senatorial districts. There are eight of 
these in Philadelphia; the first district comprises the 
first, twenty-sixth, thirty-sixth, thirty-ninth, and forty- 
eighth wards; the second comprises the second, third, 
fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and thirtieth wards; the 
third comprises the fifth, sixth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, 
thirteenth, fourteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth wards; 
the fourth comprises the twenty-fourth, twenty-seventh, 


316 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


thirty-fourth, fortieth, forty-fourth, and forty-sixth wards; 
the fifth comprises the seventeenth, nineteenth, twentieth, 
thirty-first, and thirty-seventh wards; the sixth comprises 
the twenty-first, twenty-second, thirty-eighth, and forty- 
second wards; the seventh comprises the fifteenth, 
twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirty-second, and forty- 
seventh wards; the eighth comprises the twenty-third, 
twenty-fifth, thirty-third, thirty-fifth, forty-first, forty- 
third, and forty-fifth wards. 

The system of representation by state senatorial 
districts, suggested by the Charter Committee, was 
adopted by the legislators at Harrisburg and incorpo¬ 
rated in the Charter Revision Bill, which was styled 
^‘An Act for the Better Government of Cities of the 
First Class of This Commonwealth.” 

The members of the City Council are elected from 
the eight senatorial districts on the basis of one council¬ 
man for each unit of 20,000 assessed voters and one for 
any fractional portion of such unit in excess of fifty per 
cent. Thus in the third senatorial district, with 28,000 
voters, there is but one councilman elected; in the second 
district, with 31,000 voters, there are two councilmen. 
In the event of the vote being extended to women, the 
unit of representation is doubled, 40,000 instead of 20,000. 

The new City Council consists of 21 members, elected 
as follows: from the first district, 3; from the second, 2; 
from the third, 1; from the fourth, 4; from the fifth, 2; 
from the sixth, 3; from the seventh, 3; and from the 
eighth, 3. 

Salaries of Councilmen.—Another important change 
made with regard to councilmen is that they are for¬ 
bidden to hold any other public office. Formerly council- 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 317 


men were not paid, but there were no restrictions as to 
other employment. Some twenty-eight of the former 
councilmen held positions under county government. 
They received their positions from their political chiefs 
and retained them at the pleasure of these chiefs. It was 
hardly reasonable to expect independence of men under 
such conditions. To correct this evil the clause for¬ 
bidding dual office holding was inserted in the bill. By 
paying a salary of §5,000 per annum to councilmen the 
city will secure men who can afford to give their whole 
time to their legislative tasks. Not compelled to pursue 
other occupations as a principal means of support, they 
can develop into experts in civic matters. 

The members of the Council are elected at the same 
time as the Mayor, for a term of four years. They are 
given the power to organize or reorganize any depart¬ 
ment of the city government but cannot create others. 

This radical reorganization of City Councils, substi¬ 
tuting a single chamber in place of the separate bodies 
of Select and Common Councils, is a forward step that 
should mean much for Philadelphia. 

The Mayor’s Veto.—The Mayor of Philadelphia has 
an important part in the making of laws, although he is 
usually considered an executive rather than a legislative 
official. After a bill has been passed by the Council 
it comes before the Mayor. If he approves the bill, he 
signs it and the bill becomes law. If he takes no action 
before the first meeting of Council held at least ten days 
after he receives the bill, it becomes a law. If, however, 
he does not wish the measure to pass he vetoes it. In 
this case the Mayor returns the bill to the Council with 
his reasons for disapproval. The measure is killed 


318 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


thereby, unless the Council repass it, within seven days 
after the veto, by a vote of three-fifths of the members. 

The Recall.—As things are now in Philadelphia, once 
a man is elected he cannot be removed during his term 
of office except by impeachment for very grave crimes. 
It is often pointed out that the private employer can 
discharge an unsatisfactory employee without having 
to prove him guilty of some very serious offense, and it 
is argued that the people also should have this power. 
Various changes have been suggested. One of these, 
^Hhe recall,’^ provides for the filing of a petition, signed 
by a certain percentage of the qualified voters, asking 
for the recall or dismissal from public service of the 
official against whom the petition is directed. An elec¬ 
tion is then called by which the voters can decide whether 
or not they wish to retain the official in office. Generally, 
provision is made for the voters to elect a successor to 
take the place of the recalled office-holder. 

Direct Legislation.—It has very often happened that 
the people have had difficulty in getting their legislative 
bodies even to consider measures upon which they wished 
action. In order to get such action the initiative’’ 
has been devised, and is in use in some states. Here 
again the beginning is made by petition. This sets 
forth the law that is desired. When the petition is 
filed with the election officials, with the required number 
of signatures of qualified voters, an election is called for 
deciding whether or not the proposed law is to go on the 
statute books. Where the initiative is in force, the mayors 
cannot veto the measures passed by popular election. 

In order to enable the people, independently of their 
representatives, to cancel from the statute books unde- 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 319 


sirable legislation, the ‘ Referendum, sometimes called 
the voters^ veto,” has been put into operation in some 
places. On petition, properly signed, an election is 
called by which the voters can signify whether they wish 
a bill which has just been passed to become law. 

It is often said that where the voters have these means 
of controlling their representatives it becomes unneces¬ 
sary to use them, because the representatives remain 
more attentive and responsive to the opinions of the 
electorate, and thus help to further true representative 
government. Neither Pennsylvania nor Philadelphia 
has as yet adopted the recall, the initiative, or the referen¬ 
dum. Although they have been put into operation in 
many states and cities, they have never been given up 
where they have once been tried. 

How the People May Control Legislation.—As things 
are now, if the people of Philadelphia are dissatisfied 
with a law they may voice that dissatisfaction by refus¬ 
ing to reelect the representatives who passed the legisla¬ 
tion, and by voting for other representatives who are 
pledged to-repeal it; or, they may persuade the Mayor 
to veto it. The people may let the representatives 
know what they think about the matter before the law 
is passed or the session of the legislature, is ended. They 
may do this by writing letters or sending telegrams 
directly from the voter to the representative, by circulat¬ 
ing petitions, by passing resolutions in clubs and asso¬ 
ciations, by expressing their opinions in the newspapers 
or in pamphlets, and in many other ways. Citizens 
can hardly expect satisfactory legislation if they them¬ 
selves do not care enough to let their representatives 
know what they want. 


320 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


It is also necessary for them to watch closely what 
laws are introduced, what becomes of these bills, what 
members vote for them, and many other things. Some¬ 
times citizens form themselves into organizations to 
watch legislative bodies, to prevent what they consider 
undesirable legislation, and to promote laws w^hich they 
think will improve conditions. Business men’s organi¬ 
zations and various civic associations have committees 
to keep in touch with what goes on in the Council. And 
many state and national organizations have local branches 
to look after legislation which affects Philadelphia and 
Pennsylvania. 

Commission-Manager Government.—A new form of 
government for cities is being tried in some smaller 
places. It is called the commission-manager form of 
government and is much like the organization of a 
private corporation. Instead of a large number of 
councilmen this plan provides for a few ^^conmiissioners” 
elected by the people. These commissioners attend to 
all the local legislation and also hire a trained man as 
'^manager” to see that their plans are carried out. The 
manager is non-partisan and holds his position for an 
indefinite length of time, that is, just as long as the 
commissioners are satisfied with his work. In this 
way officials can be held responsible for the success or 
failure of their actions, whereas in a more complicated 
city-government organization it is possible for one official 
to blame other officials whenever citizens complain of 
poor service. As a stage in the development of commis¬ 
sion-manager government there has been commission gov¬ 
ernment. Instead of a Mayor and a Council or Councils 
the people elect five commissioners who pass the laws and 


HOW THE CITY LAWS ARE MADE 321 


also act as the heads of the five main departments of the 
government. 

Appropriation the Most Important Legislative Act.— 

Ever since governments have existed the question of 
taxes—that is, the money collected from citizens and 
spent to maintain the government—has received a great 
deal of attention. Civil wars have been fought over the 
question. Our own Revolution, as we know, grew out 
of the question of taxation. Citizens who ordinarily 
are very little interested in public affairs are frequently 
deeply concerned with taxes, so that legislative bodies 
give much attention to the subject. There are two 
phases to the question: first, how the money shall be 
raised, through taxes, payments, etc.; and second, how 
it shall be spent or appropriated. People are ordinarily 
much more interested in the first phase than in the 
second, but appropriations are of very great importance, 
for they largely determine all the other matters in govern¬ 
ment. Unless money or other means are provided for 
carrying out a law it is apt to be ineffective. It requires 
money to hire policemen, to build streets, roads, bridges, 
and buildings, to take care of the sick, to protect foods, 
to educate children, to inspect factories; and the amount 
of money devoted to these things determines how much 
shall be done. We therefore hear it constantly said that 
the appropriation fixes the policy for the period of time 
covered by the appropriation act. This matter is fully 
discussed in Chapter XVI. 

Conclusion. —Of all the branches of government none 
is more important than the legislative, none touches our 
lives more closely, none has more power for good or 
evil to the community; none, therefore, is more deserv- 


21 


322 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


ing of study and attention from citizens. For no offices 
should the candidates be chosen with more care, to see 
that they are honest, intelligent, and public-spirited. 



SENATORIAL DISTRICTS, LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS AND WARD DIVISIONS 

OF PHILADELPHIA 





































CHAPTER XVI 


Meeting the Cost of Government 

Why Our City Needs Money.—Our city government, 
as we have seen, is a cooperative undertaking which 
is carried on by the people in order to obtain benefits 
and services. Its activities are extremely varied. As 
a group, the people of Philadelphia hire policemen, 
filter and pump water, construct streets, bridges, and 
sewers, take care of the sick, teach children, provide 
parks and recreation centers, and do many other things 
for the common good. 

Now, we all know that money is needed to run a private 
business, for people must be hired; supplies, materials, 
and equipment must be purchased; and many other 
things requiring money must be done. The public 
business is just like a private business in its need for 
money, and this requirement gives rise to numerous im¬ 
portant problems of government. These problems are 
known as financial problems’^ because they are con¬ 
cerned with the finances—that is, the money and other 
property—of the government. In addition to being 
financial problems, most of them have social bearings 
of very great importance. 

What Philadelphia Now Owns.—At present our city 
owns the City Hall, the gas works, Fairmount Park, 
the water works, .over 1,600 miles of streets and roads, 
bridges, schools, police and fire stations, hospitals, 
wharves, docks. Liberty Bonds, machinery, boats, dredges, 

( 323 ) 



324 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


equipment, money, and almost every other kind of 
property. Although we do not know exactly what the 
city’s property is worth, we are safe in assuming that 
its value is at least $600,000,000, or over three hundred 
dollars for each man, w^oman, and child living in the city. 

How the Common Inheritance was Built Up.—This 
property has been accumulated by the city in many 
interesting ways and throughout a long period of time. 
In the very beginning, William Penn, in laying out the 
city, set aside certain pieces of land for streets and parks. 
Since that time many other citizens have given land, 
buildings, money, works of art, and other things. In 
addition to these gifts the city has acquired property 
b}^ purchase and construction at a cost of more than 
$400,000,000. Some of the city’s property has, of course, 
decreased in value since the city obtained it. Build¬ 
ings and machinery become out-of-date and useless, 
street pavings wear out, water and gas mains become 
rusty and rotten. On the other hand, the increased 
value of the land has more than made up for this depre¬ 
ciation. Some pieces are worth many, many times 
what was paid for them. For example, in 1816 the city 
bought Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and all of 
Independence Square—in other words, the entire block 
of ground bounded by Chestnut, Walnut, Fifth, and 
Sixth Streets, with the exception of the small property 
on Fifth Street which belongs to the American ^Philo¬ 
sophical Society—for $70,000. That land alone, quite 
aside from its priceless historical associations, is now 
worth at least twenty-five times that purchase price. 

Certain it is that the ownership of this vast amount of 
property by the city is of immeasurable value to all of 




MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 325 


as. For, if it were owned by private persons who would 
want a net return for its use of only six per cent a year 
on its value, the expense of running the city would be 
about double what it now is. This means that we should 
have to pay about twice as much for what we receive 
from the city, or else do without some of the benefits ^ 
and services which we now enjoy. ^ 

The City has Debts as Well as Property.—We have 
just seen what the city owns and what that ownership 
means to us. Let us now look at another side of the^ 
picture. It must not be imagined that the city has this - 
large inheritance completely free of debt, for Philadelphia^ 
now owes about $138,000,000. 

These liabilities or debts, like the assets, are inherit-"^ 
ances of past years, and just as the assets bring benefits 
so the debts carry with them burdens. About $5,000,000, 
or one-ninth of the city’s present total income, is needed 
to pay the interest on this indebtedness. Some of this 
debt was incurred for things which long since have 
been used up, and are therefore of no present value to us. 
Items such as coal, food, salaries, wages, stationery, 
Fourth of July celebrations, and New Year’s Day 
parades, have been paid in some years with borrowed 
money, on which we now are paying interest, and which 
we eventually must repay. To that extent the past 
generation has handed us a burden, pure and simple. 
The greater part of the debt, however, represents mone}^ 
borrowed for the purpose of adding to the city’s assets— 
that is, for buying land, erecting substantial buildings, 
laying out streets, constructing sewers, etc. 

Our Ancestors Left Us a Real Inheritance.—So we 
see that, although a large debt .has come down to' us, 


326 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


we are the heirs of assets so much greater in value than 
the debt to which we also fall heir that we can say truth¬ 
fully that our ancestors have done much to make our 
lives happier and easier. In the first place, they left us 
an inheritance of more than $462,000,000 worth of net 
assets—that is, excess of assets over liabilities. In 
the second place, they have left us an amount of property 
equivalent to the debt, the ownership of which is of 
very great advantage to us. For, although we must 
pay interest on the debt until it is paid, we are enjoying 
the use of the property at a much lower cost than if it 
were rented by the city. And when the debt is paid 
the cost will be still lower, for there will no longer 
be any interest to pay on the debt. Moreover, in 
many cases the city has had the advantage of lower 
prices than those which it would have been obliged 
to pay had it deferred purchasing properties until it 
had accumulated out of its income sufficient money for 
the purpose. 

Our Duty to Future Citizens.—It is apparent from 
what has just been said that each generation of citizens 
falls heir to the property which the city owns at the 
time. Just what our part in building up this inheritance 
should be is a much debated question. Some people 
feel that we owe nothing to posterity; others feel that 
we owe a great deal. A sort of compromise has been 
worked out. As a rule, whenever expensive purchases 
or improvements are undertaken the burden of paying 
for them is spread over a number of years. This practice 
is defended on the grounds that it would require too 
heavy a contribution for the citizens to make in a single 
year, and that as the citizens of future years will reap 



MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 327 


benefits from the property it is but fair that they, or at 
least some of them, should pay part of the cost. 

Making an Undertaking Finance Itself.—As citizens 
come to see that their government is, to a very large 
extent, merely a business undertaking, and as they realize 
the great benefits which' come from community ownership 
of enterprises which serve all citizens, city governments 
undertake more and more activities. Philadelphia, 
for instance, in addition to owning markets, a splendid 
water works, and a gas plant, has lately undertaken an 
elaborate rapid transit system, a belt line, a series of 
port improvements, and a golf course. Some other 
cities operate canals and ferries, cemeteries and crema¬ 
tories, electric fight and power plants, ice plants, model 
homes, lodging houses, and a variety of other projects. 
All of these things are, or can be made, revenue-producing; 
and if they are worth while, according to the standard 
we have set forth above, they can be made to finance^' 
themselves completely. To do this it is only necessary 
to charge those who receive the benefits of the under¬ 
taking car fares, tolls, water rates, fees, rents, etc. These 
must be sufficient to meet all current operating expense 
and, in addition, to provide enough profit in the course 
of a given number of years to cover the entire cost of 
the property, including extensions and improvements, 
and also interest on the cost until that cost has been 
wiped out completely. 

An undertaking cannot be said to have financed itself 
completely until it has returned sufficient revenue to 
do these several things, quite regardless of whether the 
city actually borrowed the money or provided the cost 
out of its past savings or out of current revenues. When 


328 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the enterprise has finally paid for itself, it is, of course, 
only necessary" to get sufficient revenue to meet the 
running expenses, unless additional revenue is desired 
for other governmental purposes. 

But some government activities—schools, health, chari¬ 
ties, police, courts, and the general management—are of 
such a nature that they cannot be financed in this manner. 
There would be endless complexity, annoyance, and 
^.dditional expense if an attempt were made to seek out 
every beneficiary of each of these services, and collect 
from him his just share of the cost. It might be pos¬ 
sible to pay for maintaining the streets, as is the practice 
on toll roads, but think how annoying and also how 
very expensive such a procedure would be. 

Activities that Benefit Some People More than Others. 
—Govermnents do a great many things primarily for 
the people as a whole that do not resemble ordinary 
business undertakings, but which, nevertheless, benefit 
particular individuals to a much greater extent than 
others. Therefore, it seems but proper that those 
individuals should meet all, or a large part of the cost 
of such services. Administration of the courts, record¬ 
ing of deeds, mortgages, wills, adjudication of estates, 
and the issuance of marriage licenses are examples of 
this kind of activity. For each'"of these a fee is charged. 

Revenue from these Activities.—Theoretically, the 
charges should exactly offset the cost of the services 
rendered. As a rule, however, they are greater or less 
than the costs, with the result that the government 
either makes a profit or sustains a loss from the activities 
under consideration. Very often, however, what might 
appear to be a loss may represent that portion of the 



MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 329 


costs which is to be taken care of through taxation of 
one kind or another, on the ground that the people 
as a whole derive benefits from those services for which 
they should pay. 

It is interesting to note the case of public charities. 
Of course, the persons who are helped directly usually 
are unable to pay, but the fact that the city helps them 
often relieves their relatives from a responsibility which 
rightly belongs to them. The city should, therefore, 
make these people pay for the support of their dependent 
relatives in so far as they are able. 

Services and Taxation.—In the days of despotism 
taxes were generally paid very grudgingly. But as 
governments come to be regarded more and more as 
business undertakings, and as people realize that the 
money they contribute is spent by the people they 
elect, taxes are being paid less unwillingly and are 
being considered more of an investment, even if a com¬ 
pulsory one. Moreover, it can truthfully be said that 
the citizens get more for the money which they pay in 
taxes than for any other ordinary expenditure which 
they make. 

Indirect Services of Government.—Another reason 
why some people object to paying taxes levied against 
them is that they think they are paying money into 
the public treasury from which others rather than them¬ 
selves reap the benefit. But frequently these persons 
do not see clearly all the return they are securing for 
their money. For instance, should the man who has 
no children, or who sends his own to private schools, 
help to support the public schools? It is true he receives 
no direct benefit, but he does receive many indirect ones. 


330 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


His employees are made more valuable for having had 
the education which the public gives. He has to pay 
for fewer policemen to guard his property than if he 
lived in a community where people were not taught to 
be law-abiding and to have respect for the rights of 
others. The life of the community is on a much higher 
plane than if the majority of the people were illiterate. 
So we see that many things which the government does 
are like pebbles dropped into a quiet pool. The waves 
reach out in ever widening circles, and just as it is diffi¬ 
cult to distinguish one circle from another, so it is hard 
to separate those who have received benefits from those 
who have not. 

Taxation in Philadelphia.—In 1917 Philadelphia levied 
for school purposes a tax of fifty cents on each hundred 
dollars of assessed valuation of taxable real estate and 
horses and cattle. For city and county purposes a tax 
of $1.25 on each hundred dollars of assessed valuation 
was levied on horses and cattle, and on real estate 
located in those parts of the city which have the benefit 
of all of the principal city services; two-thirds that rate 
on real estate located in the suburban’’ districts; one- 
half that rate on real estate in the ‘Harm” districts— 
except that the rates applicable to property in certain 
sections of the city that take care of their own poor by 
separate “poor taxes” were slightly lower. In addition 
to the above, certain “money at interest” and carriages 
to hire were taxed for city and county purposes at the 
rate of forty cents on each hundred dollars. This forty 
cent tax is known as the “personal property tax.” The 
taxation of 1917 yielded the following approximate 
amounts of revenue or income: 


MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 331 



For City 
and County 
Purposes. 

For School 
Purposes. 

Total. 

Real estate. 

$21,249,050 

22,650 

2,800,050 

200 

$8,717,800 

9,150 

$29,966,850 

31,800 

2,800,050 

200 

Horses and cattle. 

Money at interest. 

Carriages to hire. 

Total. 

$24,071,950 

$8,726,950 

$32,798,900 



Real Estate Taxation.—Of the many kinds of taxation 
for local purposes, taxes on real estate are the most com¬ 
mon. The principal reasons for this may be said to be: 

(1) The owners and the users of real estate receive a 
very large percentage of the indirectly financed benefits 
of government; (2) all citizens use real estate more or 
less directly; (3) all citizens use products and services 
that are produced by users of real estate; (4) to the 
extent that the taxes levied on a particular piece of real 
estate exceed the owner’s share of the taxes to be col¬ 
lected, the taxes can be shifted to others in the form of 
rent, board, or increased charges for products or services; 
(5) owners cannot conceal their real estate or move it 
away; (6) if the taxes are not paid within a specified 
time the real estate can be sold by the government and 
the unpaid taxes collected out of the selling price; (7) 
taxes on real estate are, as a rule, the simplest and the 
least expensive to collect of all the various kinds of taxes. 

Assessment of Real Estate for Taxation.—One of the 
important things to be looked into in any system of 
real estate taxation is the assessment of the property 
upon which the tax is to be paid, that is, the placing of a 
value upon it for taxation purposes. In Philadelphia 




















332 CITiZENSHlP IN PHILADELPHIA 

this work is done by the Board of Revision of Taxes, 
which consists of three members who are appointed 
by the Board of Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas. 
The Board of Revision appoints seventy assessors to do 
the actual work of assessment. 

Revenue from Other Sources.—In addition to the 
$32,798,900 revenue which the city derived in 1917 
from the several forms of taxation mentioned above, 
it obtained about $15,000,000 from other sources. Of 
this latter sum, $5,508,000 was for water service, $2,160,- 
000 from the gas works, $1,902,000 from liquor licenses, 
$908,000 from the state for school purposes, and the 
remainder from interest on city deposits, fees, permits, 
various kinds of licenses, and miscellaneous sources. 

It, is interesting to note that of the $5,508,000 for 
water service, about $1,300,000 is clear profit to the city^ 
and all of the $2,160,000 received from the gas works 
is also clear profit to the city. Thus it is seen how publicly 
owned business enterprises can help to support the rest 
of the government and so keep down general taxation. 

Special Assessments.—Special assessments are charges 
which a city or other government makes against those 
whose property has been increased in value as a result 
of improvements or other work undertaken by the 
government. All of us realize that whenever,^ Phila¬ 
delphia opens, grades, or paves a street, paves a side¬ 
walk, lays water pipe, builds a sewer, lays out a park, 
or does any one of a number of other similar things, 
the property in the immediate vicinity of the improve¬ 
ment increases in value because of that improvement. 

It is, therefore, a common and a proper practice of 
governments to collect from the owners of the benefited 


MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 333 


properties as much of the increase in value of their 
properties as may be equivalent to all or a portion of the 
cost of the work that has produced the increase in value. 
In this way governments are enabled to make many 
improvements that would not be possible if their cost 
had to be met out of general taxation. 

We in Philadelphia have not adopted any definite or 
satisfactory policy for levying special assessments. 
Individual property owners are charged with the cost 
of the first or permanent^’ paving of that portion of 
the streets in front of their properties, and are responsible 
for the grading, paving, repairing, and repaving of the 
sidewalks adjoining their properties. In addition, 
property owners are assessed so much per foot of frontage 
for sewers and for water mains laid ih front of their 
properties. The city, however, pays the entire cost for 
squares, parks, boulevards, repair of streets, and various 
other improvements. 

• It is apparent that special assessments are but a form 
of taxation in which the tax, or amount to be collected, 
is levied against those who benefit most from the par¬ 
ticular governmental activities for which the special 
assessments are made. The more the people recognize 
the justice of special assessments and the increased oppor¬ 
tunities they afford for undertaking desired improvements, 
the more they are being resorted to by governments. 

Excess Condemnation.—Closely related to special 
assessments—in fact, in many ways, a sort of extension 
of special assessments—is what is known as excess 
condemnation.’^ When a government wants a piece 
of property it usually endeavors to buy it, just as private 
individuals do; but where the owner declines to sell. 




334 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


or asks a higher price than the government thinks it 
should pay, the government ^^condenms’’ the desired 
property. In other words, the government takes the 
property by legal process and later pays the price, or 
damages,’^ which some board or jury determines to be 
fair. Now, excess condemnation is but the condemning, 
or ^Tegal taking,’^ of more property than is actually 
needed for the improvement that the government plans 
to undertake. 

This excess land is taken by the government in order 
to accomplish several highly commendable purposes. 
By taking this land at its fair value before the improve¬ 
ment is undertaken, and selling it at its greatly increased 
value after the improvement has been completed, the 
government is enabled to get back a large share—very 
often all—of the cost of the improvement, thus accom¬ 
plishing what special assessments accomplish in another 
manner. A number of cases are on record where the 
government obtained for the excess land a greater amount 
than it paid for both the excess land and the entire 
improvement, thus reaping a profit for the benefit of all 
the citizens. 

By taking this land and replotting it, the government 
is able to convert shallow, narrow, and irregular lots 
into lots that are well adapted to use in harmony with the 
improvement. This means a much quicker and a much 
more satisfactory adaptation of surrounding property 
to the improvement, and it also is a factor in increasing 
the value of the excess land. 

It is thus seen how excess condemnation is both a 
financial measure and an efficient means of developing a 
city plan and making a city beautiful. 



MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 335 


Unfortunately, Philadelphia is deprived of the right of 
excess condemnation and also of the right to assess 
benefits for projects like its Parkway. As a result, a mere 
handful of the people have gained millions of dollars at 
the expense of the citizens as a whole. If Philadelphia 
were permitted to exercise these two rights it would find 
itself in a vastly better financial condition than otherwise 
is possible. 

Appropriations.—Appropriations is the name given to 
the practice of setting aside, either in actual cash or 
merely on the books, certain sums of money to be used for 
specified purposes. Usually an appropriation authorizes 
some person or group to spend the money and may also 
specify the person or group to whom the money is to be 
paid. 

The main departmental appropriations for the city are 
made by the Council on the basis of annual statements 
furnished by the Mayor showing the estimated receipts, 
liabilities, and expenditures. This is in conformity with 
the usual rule that the legislative branch of a government 
makes the appropriations. For the school system of 
Philadelphia taxes are levied and appropriations are 
made by the Board of Public Education, which as we 
have seen (Chapter VIII) is the governing body for the 
School District of Philadelphia. The School District 
covers the same area as the city, but is really a govern¬ 
ment independent of the city government. 

The Budget.—One of the most useful tools that has 
been devised to keep the proper control of finances is 
the budget.^’ It consists of the estimates and the 
financial plans which the executive officer draws up and 
presents to the legislative body which votes the money 



336 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to carry on the government. The plans for spending 
money very largely constitute the service program of an 
administration for the coming period—usually a year or 
series of years—so that when the estimates are printed 
and examined, people are in a position to investigate and 
to criticize. The word ‘‘budget” comes from the old 
French word “bougette,” which means a small purse 
or bag, and has now come to mean the collection of 
financial plans presented at one time. 

Under the new city charter the Mayor is charged with 
the duty of submitting to the Council by October 15th a 
financial statement showing the estimated receipts, fixed 
liabilities, and proposed expenditures for the ensuing 
year. The Council is required to consider the Mayor’s 
statement, or “budget,” in open sessions and by December 
15th to pass an ordinance setting forth the financial 
program for the year, and at the same time to fix a tax 
rate that will produce sufficient funds, together with the 
funds from other sources, to pay all the fixed liabilities 
and the current expenditures set forth in the Council’s 
financial program for the ensuing year. 

The estimates of receipts and liabilities are furnished to 
the Mayor by the Controller, who in addition prepares a 
statement showing the borrowing capacity of the city. 
These estimates also contain a statement of the average 
proportion of taxes uncollected at the end of each of 
the three preceding years. The estimated statement of 
expenditures is made up by the Mayor from information 
supplied him by the various departments, officers, boards, 
committees, and other agencies. 

The Council is bound to accept the estimate of receipts 
and liabilities furnished by the Mayor, but it has full 


MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 337 


discretion to determine the character and amount of 
expenditures to be made out of the estimated receipts 
of the city during the ensuing year. 

Temporary Loans.—Where cash is needed for the imme¬ 
diate requirements of the city in advance of the receipt 
of income, the Mayor, the City Controller, and the City 
Solicitor, or any two of them, may negotiate temporary 
loans for periods not to extend beyond the current year. 
These loans must not total more than ten per cent of the 
estimated receipts for the year. 

Emergency Loans.—The Council, in case of need, has 
the power to authorize the creation of one or more 
emergency loans not exceeding $2,000,000 in the aggregate 
at any one time, which, unless paid within the year in 
which they are created, must be met out of the receipts of 
the ensuing year before ordinary appropriations are made. 

Financing ‘‘Capital Outlays.”—Requests for authority 
to spend money for permanent improvements, acquisition 
of land, buildings, etc., known as ^^capital outlays,’^ 
usually are considered separately from the annual budget; 
for this budget covers little except current expenses, such 
as salaries, supplies, street cleaning, removal of garbage 
and ashes, telephone service, and interest on the city’s 
debt. Most permanent improvements are financed out 
of loan funds—that is, borrowed money—and not out of 
the taxes and other revenues of the city. 

Financial Officers.—The function of the Receiver of 
Taxes is to receive the money which is paid to the city 
and to turn it over to the City Treasurer. The latter is 
the custodian of the city’s funds. Both have large forces 
of clerks engaged in receiving the money and in the 

recording of these transactions. It is not clear why two 

22 





338 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


offices should exist for the handling of the money. The 
really important financial officer is the City Controller, 
who is given great powers by law. All warrants for city 
payments for salaries, supplies, etc., must be counter¬ 
signed by him. This duty gives him tremendous power 
in the city’s financial operations, for he can refuse his 
signature if he has doubt of the correctness of any item. 

Need for Careful Records and Bookkeeping.—As 
municipal finances are so complex, very careful records 
and bookkeeping are required to find out how much 
various services and improvements cost, how much the 
city owes to its hundreds of creditors and its thousands 
of employees, how much is owed to it by its thousands 
of debtors, how much will be needed in the future for 
various purposes, and to obtain many other kinds of 
information necessary to run the city’s business intelli¬ 
gently and to let the people know how their money is 
being spent. This phase of finance is known as accounting. 

How the City’s Financial Position can be Determined. 
—^As the years go by, the city collects enormous sums of 
money which it pays out, as we have seen, for wages, 
materials, etc.; it erects buildings and other structures, 
it buys land, it contracts debts, it enters into all kinds 
of financial transactions. One set of officers takes over 
affairs from another set, manages them for a little while, 
and then in turn transfers the business to still another 
set. In all this confusion it has appeared to be very 
hard to determine just how matters stood—whether the 
city was better or worse off financially at the end of an 
administration than it was at the beginning. However, 
there is a definite method of accounting by which this 
matter may be exactly determined. It is merely neces- 


MEETING COST OF GOVERNMENT 339 


sary to keep proper records and accounts, and to pre¬ 
pare at regular intervals a statement of the assets and 
the liabilities of the city. The excess of the city’s assets 
over the city’s liabilities is known as the city’s “net 
worth” or “net assets.” Now if at the end of a year 
the city’s net worth is larger than it was at the beginning 
of the year, the city has gained ground financially— 
in other words, has increased its net inheritance—to 
the extent of the difference between the two net worths. 
But if at the end of a year the net worth is smaller than 
it was at the beginning of the year, the city has lost 
ground financially—in other words, has decreased its 
net inheritance—to the extent of the difference between 
the two net worths. It is thus apparent that a city’s 
financial progress or regress is ascertained in exactly 
the same manner as is that of an individual, or partner¬ 
ship, or private corporation. 

Conclusion.—As the city becomes larger and more 
complicated, economy in its affairs becomes more neces¬ 
sary and at the same time more difficult. As in all other 
departments, education of the public is the greatest 
safeguard. The holding of open sessions of the Council 
when considering the Mayor’s budget is a very good 
measure. The publication of the city’s accounts in as 
simple a form as possible, for the public to study, would 
help to educate the people. We all need to know more 
and to think more about public finance in order to vote 
wisely on questions of loans, to elect intelligent and con¬ 
scientious financiers to care for the city’s money, and to 
have proper interest in all the city’s property of which we 
are joint owners. 




CHAPTER XVII 


Civil Service 

Honest Service Needed.—We have already seen that 
the city government does a great many things for the 
members of the community and that it is important 
to have these things done well. How are we to get men 
and women of the kind we need to do all of these different 
kinds of work for us? When we think that altogether 
there are about twenty thousand persons in the service 
of the city government we must realize at once that 
not all of them can be chosen by election. ■ There would 
be so many candidates that we could not know enough 
about each one to vote for the best person in every case. 
Hence we prefer to choose only a few of the men holding 
the more important offices and then let them see to it 
that the city’s work is well done. In other words, we 
elect the Mayor, members of Council, and a number of 
other officials and give them the power to appoint the 
rest of the city’s workers. For convenience, we may 
refer to the persons who are elected to office as “elective 
officials” and to those who are appointed to office as 
“appointive officials.” 

The Short Ballot.—Our experiments in self-government 
are convincing many people that it is better to have fewer 
men elected and more appointed. There is no doubt that 
our ballot in a great many cities and states is still too 
long for the ordinary voter to know something about 
each of the candidates and to vote for the men best 

(340) 



CIVIL SERVICE 


341 


fitted for public office. If the ballot were shortened 
and the voter had to elect men for the important offices 
only, he would be able to choose much more intelligently. 
This idea is gaining acceptance very rapidly among 
political thinkers and is being gradually adopted by 
cities throughout the country. Popularly it is known 
as the short ballot’^ idea. 

The Spoils System.—The danger of placing large 
powers of appointment in the hands of a few men is 
that they will fill offices with their political friends. 
All of these employees will in turn influence their friends 
to vote with them, and the result will be a great organi¬ 
zation which cares only to profit by holding and control¬ 
ling public office. Elections then may become mere 
contests for place, power, and profit rather than expres¬ 
sions of belief as to public questions. In other words, 
the parties become mere rivals for spoils. As soon as a 
new administration comes into power it immediately 
removes the city employees who are members of the 
rival party and puts its own friends into office. City 
jobs are looked upon as spoils of political warfare which 
the victorious party has a right to distribute among 
its faithful followers. This general practice has become 
known as the spoils system” of public employment. 

Philadelphia’s First Civil Service Law.—The first step 
away from the spoils system in Philadelphia was taken 
in 1887, when the civil service section of the Bullitt 
Bill went into effect. This section provided for open 
competitive examinations to determine the fitness of 
applicants for appointive positions in all departments 
under the city government. The enforcement of this 
I'^ction was entrusted to a board composed of the Mayor 


342 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


and the heads of departments, known as the ‘^Municipal 
Executive Board of the City of Philadelphia.’’ Unfor¬ 
tunately, under this arrangement the power to make and 
enforce rules for selection and promotion was given to 
the same men who were obliged to obey the rules. The 
result was that employment conditions in the city service 
were not very much better than they had been under 
the spoils system. 

Reforms of 1906 and 1919.—The year 1906 marks the 
beginning of the present system of public employment in 
Philadelphia. In that year the State Legislature of 
Pennsylvania passed an entirely new law governing our 
local municipal service. This law provided for a civil 
service commission of three members, none of whom 
could hold any other public office. Under the law the 
Mayor was supposed to remove a commissioner only for 
good cause, to be stated in writing. This restriction 
was not binding, however, for under the constitution 
of the state of Pennsylvania the Mayor had the power 
to remove a commissioner whenever he pleased without 
even stating the cause. It often happened that when a 
new mayor took office he either requested all the Civil 
Service Commissioners to resign or removed them by 
means of his constitutional power, and then appointed 
men of his own choice. 

The framers of the new charter of 1919 realized that the 
Civil Service Commission should not be at the mercy of 
political fortunes if the service was to be administered 
impartially, and they decreed that the Commissioners 
shall be elected by majority vote of the Council and shall 
hold office for four years. Vacancies are filled in the 
same way. 


CIVIL SERVICE 


343 


General Duties of the Commission.—It is the duty of 
the Civil Service Commission to look after the employ¬ 
ment needs and problems of the city government. It has 
to do everything that is usually done by the ordinary 
employment department of a private business or factory, 
and needs to be much more exacting in its methods. 
As a rule, a private employment department is con¬ 
cerned only with getting and maintaining a highly 
efficient group of employees and may use any available 
means to secure this end. A civil service commission, 
however, must use methods that not only make for 
efficiency but also are in harmony with our ideals of 
democracy and justice. It must see that all persons 
seeking or engaged in public employment are treated 
alike on their merits and are dealt with fairly at all 
times. In order to make sure that this is done the 
civil service law prescribes the broad outlines of the 
methods to be used, while the details are left to the 
commission to work out in its own way subject to the 
Mayor^s approval. 

Classification of the Service.—One of the important 
things outlined in the law is the classification of the city 
service. The purpose of this classification is to guide 
the Civil Service Commission in its methods of selecting 
workers for different kinds of positions. In its broad out¬ 
lines, the classification is as shown on the following page. 

The Unclassified Service.—The reader will notice in 
this outline that the entire city service is divided into the 
unclassified service and the classified service. The 
unclassified service includes all elective officials, such 
as the Mayor, the members of Council, the City Con¬ 
troller, etc. It also includes appointive officials whose 


344 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


The 

City 

Service 


A. Elective officials 

B. Directors and assist¬ 
ant directors of de¬ 
partments, civil ser¬ 
vice commissioners, 
purchasing agent, city 
architect, members of 
art jury and city plan¬ 
ning commissioners 

C. City solicitor and all 
assistant city solicitors 


I I. Unclassified 
service 


D. Persons employed by 
contract on work 
which cannot be per¬ 
formed by persons in 
classified service 


E. Special policemen or 
firemen appointed in 
time of public emer¬ 
gency 


F. Persons appointed 
temporarily as special 
investigators on work 
which should not be 
performed by persons 
in the classified service 


"a. Secretaries 
to directors 


II. Classified 


service 


A. Exempt 
class 


1. Positions 
exempted^ 
by law 

2. Positions 
exempted 
by Civil 
Service 
Commission 


Secretary and 
clerk to 
Mayor 


B. Competitive class 

C. Labor class 













CIVIL SERVICE 


345 


appointment is subject to approval by the Council, as, 
for example, the Director of Public Health, the Director 
of Public Welfare, the Director of City Transit and the 
Director of Wharves, Docks and Ferries and all assistant 
directors of departments. These have to decide upon 
matters of public policy and therefore must be chosen 
by political rather than by civil service methods. The 
unclassified service also includes persons temporarily 
appointed to conduct a special investigation, persons 
who in times of public emergency may be appointed as 
special policemen or firemen for service not to exceed 
one month in duration, and persons employed by con¬ 
tract to perform a special service for the city where such 
contract is certified by the Civil Service Commission to 
be for employment which cannot be performed by per¬ 
sons in the classified service. (See diagram of the City 
Service, p. 344.) 

The Classified Service : The Exempt Class .—The 
classified service consists of three distinct classes, namely, 
the exempt, the competitive, and the labor class. Of 
these three classes, all except the exempt class come dis¬ 
tinctly under the Civil Service Commission. The offices 
and positions in the exempt class, however, are as clearly 
outside the scope of civil service as the unclassified service. 
Part of the positions in this class are specified in the law 
and cannot be otherwise classified by the Civil Service 
Commission. This is true of the secretaries or clerks to 
the directors of departments, and the secretary and clerk 
to the Mayor. The other positions in this class are posi¬ 
tions which the Civil Service Commission thinks it cannot 
fill by means of civil service examination. During recent 
years, however, it has been shown by the more pro- 


346 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


gressive civil service commissions that even the very high¬ 
est paid technical and expert positions can be filled suc¬ 
cessfully by means of opven competitive examinations. 

The Competitive Class ,—The great majority of offices 
and positions outside the labor class are included in the 
competitive class. Practically all bookkeepers, stenog¬ 
raphers, clerks, engineers, doctors, inspectors, policemen, 
firemen, and skilled workers of all kinds belong in this 
class. All of these employees are chosen by means of 
open competitive examination, and this test makes up 
the principal work of the Civil Service Commission. 

The Labor Class .—The labor class includes all unskilled 
laborers in the city service. Under the provisions of the 
law the Civil Service Commission may adopt any practi¬ 
cable means of selecting laborers, but ordinarily only an 
examination showing them to be physically fit for the 
work is given to applicants for labor positions. 

The Physical Examination.—^We have already men¬ 
tioned the physical examination which is given to all 
labor applicants. It is given also to applicants for all 
other positions, especially to those who want to become 
policemen or firemen. The purpose of the examination 
is to find out whether the applicant is in good general 
health, whether he has physical defects that would inter¬ 
fere with his work, and whether he is strong enough to do 
the particular kind of work for which he is applying. 
Policemen and firemen have to meet all of these require¬ 
ments and in addition have to qualify in height and 
weight. 

The Mental Examination.—Practically all applicants 
for positions in the competitive class must pass a mental 
examination. This examination usually consists of a 


CIVIL SERVICE 


347 


written test very much like an examination in school. 
Each applicant is handed a list of questions, which he 
answers in writing as best he can, and then his answers 
are marked and graded by the examiners of the Civil 
Service Commission. The questions asked pertain to the 
work of the position for which the examination is held 
and also to the general information of the applicant. 

For the more important offices, the questions in the 
mental test may relate to broad problems of administra¬ 
tion and call for a fairly long discussion. For example, 
in the examination for the position of assistant chief, 
division of housing and sanitation, bureau of health, 
department of public health and charities, $1,900 a year, 
held on March 3, 1916, applicants were asked, among 
others, the following practical questions: 

1. Prepare a blank form for a nuisance inspector’s 
report. 2. In what form would you record the results of 
nuisance inspection so as to give a comprehensive view of 
the work accomplished? 3. The chief of the division 
is away on sick leave. A tenement is reported in which 
two rooms, each about 10 feet by 15 feet, are occupied 
by a man and wife, four children, and six boarders. What 
action would you take? 4. Upon what grounds would 
you refuse a permit to keep a horse in the yard of a tene¬ 
ment house? 5. A basement water closet has been 
ordered removed from a dwelling owing to the backing 
up of the sewage. The owner writes a letter of protest 
saying that she is a widow of small means and cannot 
afford to make the change ordered. She promises to 
attend to the objectionable conditions as they may occur, 
so that they will not endanger the health of the tenants. 
Frame your letter in reply. 


348 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Training and Experience.—Another test which all appli¬ 
cants for positions in the competitive class must undergo 
is an examination of training and experience. Each 
applicant must state in writing what schools and colleges 
he has attended, what special studies he has pursued, and 
what practical experience he has had. These statements 
help the examiners to judge whether the applicant is 
fitted for the position to be filled. 

The Oral Interview.—The oral interview is still another 
method of testing the fitness of applicants for a consider¬ 
able number of positions. It is used principally in examin¬ 
ing applicants for duties that require the exercise of a 
great deal of judgment, tact, and personality. Inspectors, 
for example, as well as heads of divisions and chief clerks, 
frequently are given an oral interview as part of their 
examination. For lower grade positions this interview is 
a very simple affair. The applicant appears before one 
or more of the examiners, who ask him a number of simple 
questions regarding his education and the work he has 
done and observe his general appearance and manner of 
replying. For high grade and expert positions very often 
this interview is conducted by a board of men who them¬ 
selves are experts in the kind of work for which the 
examination is held. For example, when the Chief Exami¬ 
ner of our Civil Service Commission was chosen in 1915, a 
number of noted civil service experts from different parts 
of the country were asked to come to Philadelphia and 
assist in interviewing the applicants. 

The Practical Test.—In recent years the practical test 
has been used a good deal, especially in selecting men for 
skilled labor positions. In a test of this kind applicants 
are required to show their ability by actually doing a 


CIVIL SERVICE 


349 


piece of work which only a properly skihed workman can 
perform. Painters, for example, are asked to do an actual 
job of painting; blacksmiths, to do actual blacksmithing; 
and machinists, to do work requiring skill as a machinist. 

Investigation of Character.—Investigation of character 
is another means recently introduced of determining the 
fitness of applicants for city positions. This consists of 



A PRACTICAL EXAMINATION 
These men are being tested for their ability to construct pavements. 


inquiring closely into the past record of the applicant to 
see whether he has been guilty of any crimes or other acts 
that would make his employment by the city unwise. 
Investigation of this kind is especially important in select¬ 
ing policemen and firemen. 

Use of Various Tests.—Not all of these tests, however, 
are used in every examination. In each examination the 
commission uses only those tests that seem best adapted 
for selecting men for the particular kind of work tc be 







350 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


done. Cooks, for example, might be given a practical 
test and their experience might be looked into, but they 
would not be asked to write a thesis nor to appear before 
an oral examining board. Applicants for high administra¬ 
tive and technical positions, on the other hand, would not 
be given a practical test, but might be asked to prepare a 
thesis and also to submit for examination articles and 
books that they had written. So in every other case 
the Civil Service Commission would use the kind of 
tests that would best enable it to find out whether 
applicants are able to do the work for which they are 
applying. 

The Unassembled Examination.—Of late years the 
so-called unassembledexamination has been used to 
a considerable extent in filling high grade administrative 
and expert positions. In an unassembled examination 
the applicants do not meet in a single room to write 
their papers, but may be asked to prepare in their own 
home or office a discussion of some practical problem of 
adniinistration and a statement of their training and ex¬ 
perience and of the constructive work they have accom¬ 
plished. These written discussions and statements are 
then sent to the Civil Service Commission by mail. 
The commission may also examine any books or articles 
published by the applicants, and take into consideration 
the reputation and professional standing of the various 
competitors. 

The great advantage of the unassembled examination 
is that the best men all over the country may compete 
in it without serious inconvenience to themselves, and 
thus any city may obtain by an impartial method of 
selection the most expert persons regardless of their loca- 


CIVIL SERVICE 


351 


tion. This kind of examination has been used quite 
frequently in Philadelphia, and with excellent results. 

Eligible Ratings. —^After applicants have been examined 
they are given ratings by the examiners of the Civil 
Service Commission. A separate rating is given for each 
test, and the different parts of each test are also rated 
separately. Then the separate ratings are averaged and 
the resulting average rating determines the applicant's 
standing. If this rating is as high as seventy per cent 
the applicant's name is placed on a list of eligibles in the 
order of his standing, the person with the highest rating 
being placed at the head of the list. Those who fail to 
get a rating as high as seventy per cent are not con¬ 
sidered qualified for the position and are not placed 
on the eligible list. 

Method of Appointment. —Once an applicant gets his 
name on the eligible list he is in line for appointment to a 
position for which the list is appropriate, but that does not 
mean that he is sure to be appointed. If he stands 
very low on the list, his name may not be reached before 
the end of the period during which the list is in force. 
Eligible lists remain in force not longer than two years. 
Formerly when a vacancy occurred in any department 
of the city government the head of the department 
might appoint any one of four persons at the top of 
the list. The new charter changed this rule and requires 
the certification of only two instead of four names stand¬ 
ing at the head of the list in the examination. Of these 
two the appointing officer must select one. In this con¬ 
nection it should be noted that in most cities three names 
are certified for a single vacancy, and in Chicago only one 
name is submitted, so that no eligible can be passed over 


352 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


entirely. If an eligible list consists of less than two 
names the appointing officer may treat such appointment 
as temporary; in that case the commission must hold an 
examination and secure an eligible list as soon as possible. 
The appointee from this list serves for a probationary 
period of three months. If his work is satisfactory, his 
appointment becomes permanent; if not, the appointing 
officer notifies him in writing that he will not be retained 
in the public service after the three months’ period. 

The work of the Civil Service Commission, however, 
does not consist entirely of examining applicants for 
original appointments. It also has important duties to 
perform with reference to employment problems that 
arise after employees have been brought into the city 
service. 

Promotion. —One of these internal problems of employ¬ 
ment is that of promotion. Every person who enters the 
city service hopes some day to rise to a better position. 
The Civil Service Commission may make promotions 
from the lower to the higher grades on the basis of the 
records of efficiency and seniority furnished by the 
departments, or on competitive promotion tests, or both. 

Removals. —Another problem of employment arising 
within the service is that of providing security against 
unjust removal. This problem is difficult and its solution 
has not yet been worked out. In Philadelphia no em¬ 
ployee under the protection of civil service may be removed 
for political or religious causes, and when he is removed 
the head of the department must state his reasons for the 
removal in writing and submit it to the Civil Service Com¬ 
mission. The accused employee may make a written reply 



CIVIL SERVICE 


353 


to this statement, though he may not be reinstated. 
Policemen and firemen, however, cannot be removed 
unless they have been tried and found guilty by the 
Civil Service Commission or by a trial board appointed 
by the Commission. Formerly, policemen and firemen 
were tried by a trial board of their own. But the new 
charter did away with these boards, and charges against 
policemen and firemen are in future to be determined by 
trials conducted under the supervision of the Commission. 
No employee may be removed for religious reasons. 

Standardization of Salaries and Grades.—The new 
charter directs the Civil Service Commission to standard¬ 
ize the salaries and grades in the city service, so that 
positions involving the same work will be in the same 
grade. Grades having duties of the same general nature 
and in the same line of promotion are to be placed in the 
same class, and the lines of promotion are to be definitely 
specified. For each grade the Commission is to determine 
a standard minimum and maximum rate of pay, and to 
report the same to the Mayor and the Council. 

Politics in the Civil Service.—In order to keep politics 
out of the civil service, drastic regulations are set forth 
in the new charter. City employees are forbidden to 
take active part in political campaigns or to use their 
offices to influence political nominations. Moreover, 
they must not solicit, collect, or receive any assessment, 
subscription, or contribution, whether voluntary or 
involuntary, intended for any political purpose whatever. 
The penalty for disobedience is a fine and dismissal 
from office, with possible imprisonment for policemen 
and firemen. 

Importance of Good Commission.—The civil service 

28 




354 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


just outlined, if properly administered, insures a consid¬ 
erable degree of fairness in appointment and promotion, 
and also helps to make the city service much more 
efficient than it was before the new charter was adopted. 
A great deal, of course, will always depend upon the 
manner in which the system is carried out. It is very 
important to get the right kind of men to act as Civil 
Service Commissioners. If the Civil Service Commission 
is composed of men who are in hearty sympathy with the 
spirit of the civil service law and who take an active inter¬ 
est in improving employment conditions in the city service, 
the results will soon be obvious in every department of the 
city government. The public business will be attended 
to more promptly and in a more orderly manner. Our 
hospitals will be safer places for the sick; our food will 
be more wholesome; the streets of our city will be cleaner 
and more attractive; our houses will be more secure from 
pillage and fire, and Philadelphia will be a better and 
more beautiful city in which to live. - 


CHAPTER XVIII 


Parties and Elections 

Some Definitions.—If this country of ours were an 
autocracy or despotism, a few people would do all the 
s governing and all the rest would have to obey whether 
they wanted to or not. Those who gave the commands 
would be the rulers, and those who obeyed would be sub¬ 
jects. Fortunately the United States is a democracy, 
where the people govern themselves through officials whom 
they choose to carry out their will. In a democracy the 
mass of people are citizens, not subjects, and those who 
do the governing are responsible government officials, and 
not rulers. 

In a democracy the people have the right to select their 
governing officials, and hence elections must be held 
frequently and regularly. Anyone whose name appears 
on the ballot to be voted for at any election is called a 
candidate, while the whole group of candidates of one party 
is usually known as a ticket. Back of each candidate 
there is usually an organized group of citizens known as a 
political party. This party is made up of those who agree 
in most matters as to how the government—of town, 
county, state, or nation—is to be run. Each of these 
parties, in turn, has its own officers, selected by those who 
vote that party ticket. 

Qualifications for Voting.—The purpose of voting is to 
express the will of the people about governmental policies 
and the officials who shall execute them. This is of such 

( 355 ) 


356 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


fundamental importance in a democracy that all necessary 
steps must be taken to safeguard the ballot. In a small 
town everybody knows everybody else,” and but few 
precautions need be taken. In a big city, especially in 
sections where the population is a shifting one, personal 
acquaintance is extremely limited; and the honest voters, 
who are the great majority, must be protected against 
dishonest practices. The election law of Pennsylvania, as 
it applies to Philadelphia, is perhaps unnecessarily com¬ 
plicated through the effort to set up these safeguards. To 
have the privilege of voting in Pennsylvania one must be 
a male citizen of the United States, at least twenty- 
one years old, and must have paid a state or county 
tax if he is over twenty-two years of age. In addi¬ 
tion, one must have lived in the state a year—unless 
a former resident of the state, in which case it is six 
months—and in the voting precinct two months. The 
last requirement is for the purpose of preventing what is 
known as the colonizing” of voters, namely, the bringing 
of outsiders into a voting district at the last moment in 
order to carry an election unfairly. 

Another dishonest practice connected with elections is 
known as repeating,” by which is meant the going about 
from one polling place to another and casting a vote under 
a false name at each place. In order to put a stop to 
repeating,” and also to helpprevent colonizing,” the law 
compels each voter to appear in person before the regis¬ 
trars of his election district and there register his name, oc¬ 
cupation, residence, place of birth, and even a brief personal 
description. To this he affixes his signature, which serves 
as an additional means of identification in case his right 
to vote should be challenged when he appears at the polls. 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


357 


But the end is not yet: he must also enroll. Under the 
old law the voter at the primaries asked for any party 
ballot he wanted, and voted it. In case he was challenged 
by a watcher he had to swear or affirm that he expected to 
vote for a majority of that party’s candidates at the next 
election. Taking advantage of this law, the leaders of 
the majority party would sometimes arrange that in each 
voting precinct enough of their voters should ask for the 
other party’s ballot to secure the nomination of the 
weakest candidates on the minority party’s ticket. Their 
own candidates would thus have an easy time of it at the 
ensuing election. 

This trick, known as '^swamping” the opponents’ 
ticket, has been rendered more difficult by requiring 
that if a man would vote at a primary election— 
except for judges, who are on a non-partisan ticket—he 
must go before the registrars of his election district and be 
enrolled with some political party. When he enters the 
polling place he can secure only that party ballot, and 
hence cannot vote any other ticket. 

As an additional precaution, the law provides that the 
-voter shall always enroll with that political party a 
majority of whose candidates he voted for at the last 
general election. In practice, men frequently do not do 
this, but change their enrollment; for the only risk in so 
doing is that of having their enrollment challenged, in 
which case they will either have to decline to enroll at 
all or else swear falsely as to how they voted at the last 
election. Many people are coming to believe that any 
test of party membership which encourages falsehood is 
not a good one and should be changed. 

The Primary Election.—In Pennsylvania, as in most of 


358 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


the other states, two elections are held each year. The 
first one is called the primary election, or simply ^Hhe 
primary” from the Latin word 'primus, meaning first. At 
this election each party selects its candidates who are to 
be voted for at the general election in November. 

It has been found that state and national elections have 
had an undue influence on city and county elections, 
because people let their interest in national and state 
matters influence their voting in local affairs. For in¬ 
stance, men have often voted for a Republican candidate 
for mayor of Philadelphia, regardless of his fitness for the 
place, thinking that thereby they were helping the cause 
of a protective tariff. Accordingly, the state and national 
elections are now held in the even-numbered years, while 
city and county elections occur in the odd-numbered years. 
The primaries for the state and national elections are held 
on the third Tuesday of May, while those for city and 
county elections fall on the third Tuesday of September. 

In order that the voter may easily reach the polling 
place—^Hhe polls”—^where he is to vote, the city is 
divided up into voting precincts, each containing a few 
hundred voters and each having a centrally located polling 
place. 

Now let us see how an election is actually conducted. We 
will begin with a primary election. When the voter goes 
to the polls, which are open from seven in the morning to 
seven in the evening, he enters a room, at one side of which 
is a table. Behind this table sit the election officials, five 
in number: a judge, two inspectors, and two clerks. 
Before entering the room the voter has probably read over 
one of the bright-colored sample ballots which usually 
hang near the entrance, so as to know in advance what 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


359 


candidates he wants to vote for. As he passes by the 
table he gives his name and address, whereupon an election 
official detaches a white ballot from its stub, folds it in a 
certain manner, and hands it to him. This balfot can only 
be of that party with which he is already enrolled. When 
judges are to be voted for, an additional non-partisan 
ballot containing their names is also handed him. 

Before going into the voting booth with our voter, sup¬ 
pose we stop to discover how all the names he will find on 
his ballots ever arrived there. In Pennsylvania, and in 
many other states as well, there is what is known as 
nomination by petition. In brief, this means that any 
citizen having the legal qualifications for an office may 
get his name on a ballot sheet, provided enough of his 
friends and supporters who are qualified electors will sign 
a nomination petition, asking that his name be placed on 
the ballot as a candidate. The number of signatures 
needed depends on the importance of the office, and varies 
all the way from five to a thousand. In case the office 
is a state or national one the nomination petition must be 
filed at Harrisburg, with the Secretary of State. If it is 
a local one the petition is filed with the County Commis¬ 
sioners—the same group of three men who arrange for the 
printing of the ballots and furnish all the equipment of 
the polling places. 

But we must not forget our voter, who is patiently 
waiting for us to accompany him into the voting booth. 
This is a little box of a place, curtained off from the main 
room and furnished with a writing shelf, over which is 
suspended a lead pencil attached to a string. Our voter 
unfolds his unwieldy ''blanket” ballot and tries his best 
to find the names of the men he wants to vote for. This 


360 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


list is often too long for him to remember unless he either 
has a list with him or has marked a sample ballot in 
advance and brought that in. So difficult has it become 
to marii tliese long ballots correctly, and to decide intelli¬ 
gently between the various candidates, that many people 
are asking for a shorter ballot. For example, at the 
general election in 1915, the official ballot measured 45 
by 25 inches, called for the selection of 38 officials from 
a list of 157 candidates. In addition the voter was asked 
to pass upon four amendments to the state constitution. 
What they want is that only the most important offices 
shall be filled by popular election, and that the officials 
thus chosen by the voters shall appoint to the less im¬ 
portant offices. These appointments and all promotions 
are to be in accordance with a set of rules and regula¬ 
tions known as Civil Service.*^ (See Chapter XVII.) 

Almost everyone in Philadelphia has seen a sample 
ballot, and knows that the names of candidates are 
arranged under the titles of the offices they are seeking, 
and that opposite each name is a square where the voter 
may place a cross [X]. Having marked his ballot, our voter 
refolds it as directed and slips it into the ballot box, which 
stands on the table where the election officials can guard it. 

The Uniform Primaries Act says distinctly that no 
voter shall be permitted to receive any assistance in 
marking his ballot, unless he shall first make an affidavit 
[a sworn statement] that he cannot read the names on the 
ballot, or that by reason of physical disability he is unable 
to mark his ballot.^’ Unfortunately, voters can often be 
bribed or threatened into asking for assistance when they 
are not entitled to it. Thus they admit into the booth 
with themselves men who are acting as spies to see that 


PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


361 


the votes are cast for certain candidates favored by the 
leaders. This '‘voters’ assistance” provision of law has 
come to be regarded as doing more harm than good, and 
should either be amended or repealed. 

Another clause of the Primaries Act rightly provides 
that no ballot shall be rejected for any error in marking 
which “does not render it impossible to determine the 
voter’s choice.” The law also allows a voter to return a 
ballot he has unintentionally spoiled in marking and get 
another one in its place. 

Our voter’s right to cast his ballot may have been 
challenged before he entered the booth, in which case he 
was obliged to “swear in” his vote. This he did by swear¬ 
ing or affirming that he was the man he claimed to be and 
that he was entitled to vote in that election district. Of 
course, should it afterward be discovered that he had 
sworn (or affirmed) falsely he would be liable to punish¬ 
ment for perjury, that is, swearing to a lie. 

It may be interesting to know that several people are 
“keeping tab” on those who vote. When our voter was 
handed his ballot one of the election officers put a mark 
opposite his name in a “ballot check list,” and when the 
ballot was placed in the ballot box another official made 
a similar mark in a “voting check list.” Besides this, 
several men known as “watchers”—who were standing 
about the room with small books in their hands containing 
lists of the voters of that precinct—checked off our voter’s 
name as having cast his ballot. The reason for this last 
performance becomes plain along late in the afternoon, 
especially if a keen contest is on between rival candidates, 
when automobiles are sent out for careless or indifferent 
voters who have not yet appeared at the polls. It ought 


362 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


to be felt a disgrace by any well man to have to be 
reminded of his right and his duty to vote at the primary 
election or at the general election in November. 

As soon as the polls are closed the counting of the vote 
begins. The ballots are opened and the results read aloud 
by one of the officials, while the votes for the various 
candidates are checked up on a ruled tally sheet by another 
official. Whenever a ballot is found that is not marked 
according to the directions on the ballot itself, the judge 
of elections must decide how much of the ballot is plain 
and can be counted. A fair judge will obey the law and 
admit all of a ballot he possibly can. An unfair one will 
throw the ballot out altogether, or make a ruling that will 
favor his own side. Most judges are'honest, and when 
they are not they are often afraid of protests from the 
watchers, who are keeping a sharp eye on everything that 
happens. 

When the votes have all been counted for each candidate 
the results are sent to the County Commissioners, along 
with the stubs and the unused ballots. The commissioners 
at once make a recount from the tally sheets to see that 
no mistakes have been made. They may even reopen 
the ballot box of some voting precinct, but only when 
ordered by the Court of Common Pleas. And the court 
will not give such an order unless it has been petitioned to 
do so by some of the voters of that district, who believe 
that ‘Traud or error has been committed by the election 
officers. 

The Campaign.—The candidates of the various parties 
having been selected at the primaries, the parties prepare 
themselves for the test of strength that will come at the 
election. This preparation is known as the “campaign,” 


PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


363 


and is conducted mainly through personal solicitation, 
speeches, newspaper articles, and pamphlet literature 
mailed directly to the voters. 

Sometimes the campaign is a quiet one, and but little 
interest is aroused. But usually, whether in municipal or 
in state and national elections, the interest is keen and 
every effort is put forth to win votes. Not all of these 
efforts are honest or legal, for bribery and intimidation 
have often occurred in city elections. Bribery’^ and 
'intimidation’^ are big words, but even our young citi¬ 
zens cannot learn their meaning too early or the menace 
they offer to democracy in our large cities. 

The General Election.—Coming now to the general 
election, we discover that the same election officials are 
serving here that were acting at the primary election, and 
that the procedure is about the same. As we have already 
seen, an elector is not supposed to change his mind 
between a general election and the following primary, but 
must enroll and vote with the same party. But he is 
perfectly free to change his mind between a primary and 
the succeeding general election, and may vote for different 
candidates from the ones he helped put in nomination at 
the primaries. You will notice that this gives us a secret 
ballot at the general election, but an open ballot at the 
primaries; that is, it is known in advance what party’s 
candidates a man will vote for at the primaries but not 
at the general election. 

While at the primary election the voter sees only the 
ballot of the party with which he is enrolled, at the 
general election his ballot contains the names of all the 
candidates. These names appear under the titles of the 
offices for which they are running, and at the right of each 


364 CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


name is the title of the party or parties whose candidates 
they are. Thus each name appears but once, while the 
party names are repeated again and again. Where a 
candidate has been ‘^endorsedby more than one party, 
the voter will place his cross in the square opposite the 
name of his own party. This indicates the relative 
strength of the various parties, and determines the order 
in which they will appear on the ballot at next election. 

In case the elector wishes to vote a straight party 
ticket, and,not ^^split” his vote by voting for candidates 
on more than one ticket, he will mark a cross opposite 
the name of his party. These names he will find in a 
column at the left side of his ballot. This kind of ballot, 
containing both party squares and a grouping of offices, 
is called the ^^party square” ballot. If party squares 
and all party titles were omitted, we should have the 
so-called “Massachusetts” ballot. 

Should the elector wish to “split” his vote he may 
either place a cross opposite the name of each candidate 
he prefers, or place a cross in his own party square and 
then other crosses opposite the names of such candidates 
outside his own party as he wishes to vote for. If he 
follows the latter plan, his party square vote will count 
for all the candidates of his own party except where he 
has otherwise indicated. 

The Non-Partisan Ballot.—In Philadelphia all judges 
except the police magistrates are voted for on a ticket 
that has no party label on it. The purpose of this 
arrangement is to lift the office of judge above the strife 
of political parties or factions. This non-partisan ballot 
is printed separately and also on the regular party ballot. 
The former is given only to the voter who is not enrolled 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


365 


with any party, or who wishes to vote only the non¬ 
partisan ticket. The latter, only, is given to all other 
voters. While the regular party candidates appear on 
the ballot in alphabetical order, the non-partisan names 
appear in an order that is determined by lot. 

Party Machinery.—What a political party is has 
already been described, and we have been constantly 
hearing about it in our story of how elections are con¬ 
ducted. But we have yet to learn something about 
how parties are organized and how new parties may 
be started. This is a subject in which every citizen, 
young or old, ought to be interested. 

Like most other organizations, political parties are 
managed by committees. First of all there is the ward 
committee, consisting of two committeemen from each 
voting precinct, elected by the voters at the primaries. 
These ward committees look after the local interests 
of their party, and act as managers whenever there is 
a close contest in their own wards. Of course, in all 
matters they are acting under the general direction of 
those higher in authority. 

Over the various ward committees is the city com¬ 
mittee, whose membership is secured by having each 
ward committee elect one member. It is through this 
central committee that the big party bosses are able to 
exercise strict control over the ward and division leaders 
and, through them, over the rank and file of the regular 
party voters. 

In supreme authority, especially in matters that con¬ 
cern the state as a whole, is the state committee, made 
up of two representatives from each senatorial district, 
elected at the primaries. Philadelphia furnishes one- 


366 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


sixth of its members, and exercises a good deal more 
than one-sixth of the influence of the committee, due 
to the fact that those in control of the parties in Phila¬ 
delphia are also the state leaders. 

It must not be forgotten that these committees, 
powerful as they are, must be guided or influenced by 
party sentiment as expressed through party clubs; 
and they must even keep in touch with what non¬ 
partisan civic associations are thinking and doing. 

As a sort of apex to this pyramid of party organiza¬ 
tion stands the national committee, consisting of one 
representative from each state and territory, elected 
by the state delegations at the time of the national 
nominating convention. This committee manages the 
presidential campaign and makes all arrangements for 
the holding of the next convention, four years later. 

The convention itself contains twice as many delegates 
from each state as the state has representatives and 
senators in Congress. This means that Pennsylvania 
sends 76 delegates out of a total of over 1,000; and of 
these 76, Philadelphia elects an even dozen and helps 
to elect as many more. The last twelve are known as 
delegates-at-large, and are twice as many as the state 
has congressmen-at-large and senators. 

There are three main things for this convention to do. 
First, it draws up a party platform, telling what the 
party believes in and what it will try to do if it is in 
power for the next four years. Second, it puts in nomi- 
, nation candidates for President and Vice-President. 
Third, it selects a new national committee for the next 
four years. 

Forming a New Party.—Now a word is necessary as 


PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 


367 


to how a new party may be started. Whenever a group 
of people in a certain locality—let us say Philadelphia— 
are not satisfied with the policies or with the candidates 
that have been nominated for certain offices by their 
own party, and are unwilling to support the policies 
or the candidates of one of the other parties, they may 
at once start a party of their own. To do this, at least 
five of the group must first file an affidavit with the 
Prothonotary (clerk of the Court of Common Pleas) 
of the county, stating that they have adopted a certain 
name for the new party they propose to start—this 
name to contain no words identical with those already 
in use by any political party. The next step is to secure 
signatures to a nomination paper for each candidate 
which the 'group proposes to put up for some office. 
Perhaps it may be only a candidate for one single office; 
perhaps it may be for every office in the city or county 
or state. These nomination papers—which look like 
the nomination petitions we have already heard about— 
are then filed with the Secretary of State at Harrisburg, 
together with a certificate from the Prothonotary stating 
that a new party name has been preempted by this 
particular group of electors. This completes the process, 
and a new political party—local, state, or even national 
in scope—has now been started. Usually these new 
parties are short-lived, but they often accomplish a 
good deal in a short time. 

Why Parties at All?—No democratic nation of any 
considerable size has ever worked out a scheme for 
running its government without the aid of political 
parties. In England and the United States the great 
majority of the voters ally themselves with one or the 


368 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


other of two great parties or groups of parties. In France 
and Italy and other European countries there are numer¬ 
ous small political groups, with a constant shifting of 
alliances between them. But in all democracies political 
parties have come to stay. In all alike, the parties or 
groups for the time being out of power are directing a 
helpful and steadying criticism at the acts and policies 
of the party or groups then in power. And in all alike, 
political parties and party machinery are serving as a 
coordinating force that ties together all the parts of the 
government. 

The binding force that gives cohesion and power to 
political organizations, especially in our large cities, 
is a sort of give-and-take good fellowship that never 
forgets its supporters, and that is singularly generous 
in its distribution of offices and other favors. Too 
often, unfortunately, this sentiment does not rise above 
the clan spirit, but places the interest of the party or 
faction above the interest of the community at large. 
But despite this fact, party groups are useful, even 
in city government, provided they are based on issues 
that concern the city itself rather than the state or the 
nation. 

Not only must there be political parties, but there 
must be party leaders and plenty of active party workers. 
It ought to be an honor to be a ^‘politician,” whether 
as a leader or as a worker in the ranks; and it will be 
when the average voter shall have decided, once for all, 
that party leaders shall lead and party workers shall 
work unselfishly for the public good, and not selfishly 
for their own personal ends. 


EPITOME OF REVISED CHARTER FOR 
PHILADELPHIA, 1919 


Mayor: Elected for 4 years. Not to be re-elected. 

Purchasing Agent: (formerly Director of Supplies): Appointed by 
mayor. 

City Architect: Appointed by mayor. 

Zoning Commission: Appointed by mayor. 

City Planning Commission: Appointed by mayor. 

Art Jury: Composed of mayor and 8 other members appointed 
by mayor. 

Council: Single chamber elected every four years from state senatorial 
districts; one Councilman from each 20,000 assessed voters or major 
fraction thereof; if women vote, representation is one to 40,000. 
(Assessment lists of 1919 provide Council of 21 members.) 

Dual Office Holding: Councilmen debarred from holding any other 
public office. 

Salary: $5,000 per annum. 

Veto: Bills must be signed by mayor. If he vetoes, Council may 
pass a bill by a vote of three-fifths of all the members. 

Executive Departments: (1) Public Safety. 

(2) Public Works. 

(3) Public Health. 

(4) Public Welfare. 

(5) Wharves, Docks and Ferries. 

(6) City Transit. 

(7) City Treasurer. 

(8) City Controller. 

(9) Law. 

(10) Civil Service Commission. 

(11) Receiver of Taxes. 

Department of Public Safety: Director, appointed by mayor: ^Police; 
fire; electrical service; erection of fire escapes; inspection of buildings, 
elevators, engines and boilers. 

Department of Public Works: Director, appointed by mayor: Water, 
gas and other public utilities; grading, paving, repairing, cleaning and 
lighting (except electric lighting) of streets; construction and repair of 
public buildings; bridges; surveys; engineering; sewerage; drainage. 

Board of Surveyors: Chief engineer and surveyor (president), an 
assistant chief engineer and surveyor (vice-president) and surveyors 
and regulators of the several survey districts. 

Chief Engineer: Appointed by director of public works, who also 
appoints assistant and surveyors and regulators for survey districts. 

( 369 ) 


'670 


CITIZENSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA 


Department op Public Health: Director, appointed by mayor: Hos¬ 
pitals; housing and sanitation; vital statistics. (All powers formerly 
held by Bureau of Health.) 

Board of Health: Consists of director of public health and 2 other 
members appointed by mayor. 

Department OF Public Welfare: Director appointed by mayor: Chari¬ 
table, correctional and reformatory institutions {except hospitals); 
playgrounds; recreation centers; baths. 

Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries: Director, appointed by 
mayor. 

Department of City Transit: Director, appointed by mayor: Street- 
railways, elevateds, subways, etc. 

Department of City Treasurer: Elected; term of 4 years: Custodian 
of city’s funds. Must keep several sources of revenue and income 
separate and distinct and make daily deposits of all moneys received 
in banks designated by Council. Daily reports to controller. 

Department of City Controller: Elected; term of 4 years: Has super¬ 
vision of accounts of all departments; unified accounting system under 
his control. 

Department of Law: Headed fby city solicitor, appointed by mayor: 
He is the legal adviser and acts as attorney and counsel for the city, 
^ftepares contracts to be made with city. 

Civil Service: Unclassified: (a) Officers elected by the people. 

(b) Director and assistant directors of 

departments, civil service commis¬ 
sioners, purchasing agent, city archi¬ 
tect, city planning commissioners and 
art jury. 

(c) City solicitor and assistants. 

, (d) Special employees. 

(e) Special police and firemen. 

(f) Temporary investigators or examiners. 
Classified: All civil offices, positions and employments not 

included in unclassified service. 

Civil Service Commission: Consisting of 3 members elected by City Council 
by majority vote; term 4 years. 

Department OF Receiver OF Taxes: Elected; term of 4 years. 

Budget: Appropriations made by the Council on basis of budget prepared 
by mayor, who is furnished with estimates of receipts, liabilities and 
expenditures by controller and departments. 

City Contracts: After December 31, 1920, repair and cleaning of streets, 
ash and garbage collection and disposal shall be done by citv, but such 
work may be done by contract by majority vote of Council, with 
approval of ma 3 ^or. 


INDEX 


Accidents, industrial, 129 
prevention of, 126 
street, 127 
transportation, 130 
Adenoids, 45 

Agricultural occupations in city, 257 
Air and light, need for, 34 
-Alcohol, an enemy to public health, 48 
American Philosophical Society, 324 
Ancestors, inheritance left us, 325 
Animal Industry, United States Bu¬ 
reau of, 33 

Antwerp, a great port, 245 
Appeal courts, 298 
Appropriations, 321, 335 
Aquarium, 52 

Anny engineers, work of, 269 
Art, domestic, 158 
industrial, 156 
Jury, 224 

Pennsylvania School of Industrial, 
192, 260 

School, Public Industrial, 155 
Assessments, real estate, 331 
special, 332 

Athletic Recreation Park, 187 
Athletic Recreation Park Booster, 188 
Babies, city care of, 46 
Bacteria, 31 

how removed from water, 60 
Bacteriological laboratory, 42 
Baltimore, rival of Philadelphia, 245 
Band concerts, 193 ) 

Banking business, 255, 265 
Banking Commissioner, 271 
Bar, the, 302 
Bartram’s Garden, 182 
Belmont filtration plant, 56 
Belt Line Railroad, 242 
Bertillon system for identifying pris¬ 
oners, 122 

Betsy Ross House, 226 
“Blanket” ballot, 359 
Blind, department for the, 191 
Board of Trade, 262 
Boiler Inspection, Bureau of, 38 
Booster, Athletic Recreation. Park, 188 
Boston, one of leaders in parTc system, 
214 

Boulevards, the, 212 


Bourse, the, 264 
Boy Scouts, 197 

Broad Street, well adapted for 
parades, 193 
Bryn Mawr College, 259 
Budget, the, 335, 337 
Building, Code, 35 
inspection, 107 
bureau of, 35, 109 
Buildings, regulation of, 223 
Bullitt Act, 124, 136, 341. 

Burholme Park, museum, 193 
Burnham, Daniel H,, on city planning, 
227 

Business in Philadelphia, 251 
Camden, rapid transit to, 238 
Canals, 247 

Capital punishment, 305 
Carnegie, Andrew, gift to city, 191 
Carpenters’ Hall, 226 
Catholic Charities, 287 
Central High School, 171 
Central Labor Union, 262 
Chamber of Commerce, 262 
Charities, Building, 283 
Catholic, 287 
Jewish, 286 
private, 283 
public, 49, 274 
State Board of, 288 
Charity, Society for Organizing, 285 
Charter of Philadelphia, 313 
Chemistry, United States Bureau of, 
33 

Chicago, one of leaders in park system, 
214 

Child Labor Act, 161, 266 
Children, cruelty to, 285 

dependent and delinquent, 283 
Children’s Aid Society, 275, 285 
Chlorine, used for purifying water, 34 
Christ Church, 226 
Churches, Recreational Activities of, 
197 

City, debts, 325 
Hall Guards, 121 
• property, 323 
Property, Bureau of, 225 
Solicitor, 306 

Transit, Department of, 269 


( 371 ) 



372 


INDEX 


Civic Centers, 208 
Civics, teaching of, 154 
Civil Division, Municipal Court, 296 
Civil service, 340 
Commission, 343 
examinations, 346 
first law, 341 
promotion, 352 
salaries, 353 
“Clean-up Week,” 86 
Clerks of the Courts, 303 
Cleveland’s experience with an electric 
street flusher, 84 
Clubs and associations, 263 
College Settlement, 195 
Colleges and Universities, 259 
“Colonizing” of voters, 356 
Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and 
Domestic, 264, 270 
Commerce Reports, 270 
Commercial America, 265 
Commercial High School for Girls, 173 
Commercial Library, 264 
Commercial Museum, 193, 264 
Commercial opportunities in Philadel¬ 
phia, 256 

“Commission” business, 30 
Commission-manager government, 
320 

Committees in Councils, 312, 316 \ 

Common Council, 22, 310 
Community center, the school as a, 
171 

Comprehensive Plans, Committee on, 
218 

Compulsory education, 168 
Bureau of, 168, 177, 268 
Condemnation proceedings, 333 
Confusion caused by Philadelphia’s 
curious double government, 133 
Congress Hall, 225, 324 
Consolidation, Act of, 203, 308 
Constables, duties of, 303 
Constabulary, 126 
Constituency, defined, 310 
Contagious diseases, 29, 40, 165 
Hospital for, 43 
Contracts, defined, 298 
Controller, City, 336, 338 
Conventions, political, 366 
Convicts’ suits in modern prisons, 304 
Cooke, Jay, 254 
Coroner, duties of, 306 
Council, City, 310 
Councils, Select and Common, 310 
Counties as public corporations, 307 
Country Week Association, 196 
County officials, 307 
Court, Common Pleas, 298 


Court, Juvenile, 291 
License, 302 
Municipal, 291 
Orphans’, 299 
Superior, 299 
Supreme, 300 
Courts, Appeal, 298 
Clerks of, 303 
Criminal, 299 

last resort for protection, 133 
Magistrates’, 289 
reform of, 301 
Crier, Court, 303 
Criminal Courts, 299 

Division, Municipal Court, 295 
Cruelty to Children, Society for Pre¬ 
vention of, 285 

Dairy and Food Commission, 33 
Death rate from typhoid, 53 
Debt of Philadelphia, 325 
Deeds, Recorder of, 306 
Defectives, School provision for, 159 
Defects, Correction of Physical, 45 
Direct Legislation, 318 
District Attorney, 306 
Docks, municipal, 244 
Domestic Art, 158 
Drawing in the schools, 155 
Drexel Institute, 174 
Eastern Penitentiary, 304 
Education, begun in Philadelphia, 21 
Board of, 170, 176, 209, 335 
Educational facilities, 146 
Election, General, 363 
law of Philadelphia, 356 
Elections, how conducted, 358 
Electric appliances in the home, 144 
Electric lighting, 138 
Electrical Bureau, 142 
Elevator Inspection, Bureau of, 131 
Employment, Bureau of, 268, 278 
for minors under eighteen, 169 
European War, effect on Philadelphia, 
228 

Evening schools, 162 
Examiners, Board of, 176 
Excess condemnation, 333 
Exports from Philadelphia, 253 
Eye disorders, 45 
Fairmount Park, 179 
Field Day at, 165 
Farming in Philadelphia, 257 
Federal Reserve, Act, 272 

Feeble Minded Children, 276 
State Institution for, 275 
Field Pay at Fairmount, 165 
Filtration system, 54 
Finance Committee of Councils, 312 



INDEX 


373 


Financial, oflficers, 337 

position of city, how determined, 
338 

Financing undertakings, 327 
Fire, alarms, 97 
boats, 96 
Bureau of, 93 

Department begun by Franklin, 25 
drill, 268 

escapes, law regarding, 103 
marshalls duties, 101 
Prevention day, 113 
prevention, new methods, 110 
School, 97 

value of property destroyed by, 

88 , 100 

Firemen, two-platoon system for, 93 
Hres due to carelessness, 103 
I'ood, securing wholesome, 29 
Fourth of July celebrations. Deaths, 
injuries and fires resulting from, 
111 

Frankford, elevated road to, 234 
Franklin, appoints first street cleaner, 
27 

draws up bill for paving streets, 27 
embodiment of civic spirit and civic 
achievement, 17 

founder of academy which becomes 
the University of Pennsylvania, 
26 

in England, 27 
Institute, 260 

projects a public library, 23 
proposes police and fire depart¬ 
ments, 24 

Free Library of Philadelphia, 190 
new building on Parkway, 192 
Freight yards at water front, 241 
Friendly Visitor’s Conference, 286 
Garbage removal, 38, 75 
“Garden cities” in England, 223 
Gas, Bm*eau of, 136, 141 
city first lighted by, 135 
in the home, 144 
works leased to U. G. I., 136 
municipal ownership of, 135 
Gasoline lighting, 140 
Geographical position of city, 269 
Germantown Boys’ Club, 196 
Girard College, 146, 284 
Girard, Stephen, 254 
Government, aid in vocational educa¬ 
tion, 260 

confusion caused by city’s double, 
133 

indirect services of, 329 
meeting the cost of, 330 
Grade crossings, removal of, 130 


Greater Philadelphia, 226 
Hamburg, a great port, 245 
Haverford College, 259 
Health Department, 47, 49 
Health problems, 29 
High-pressure system for fires, 94 
High schools for boys, 171 
girls, 173 

Holme, Thomas, surveyor general of 
province, 19 
Holmesburg Prison, 304 
Home and School League, 187 
Home Defense Reserve, 126 
Homeless men and women, 277 
Home rule, 308 
Home Teaching Society, 191 
Hospitals, 44, 274, 280 
House of Correction, 295 
House of Detention, 293 
Housing and Sanitation, Division of, 
35, 38 

Imports, 253 

Improvements of streets, plans for, 
206 

Independence Hall, bought by city, 
324 

restoration of, 225 
Indeterminate Sentence, 304 
Industrial art, hand work, 156 
shop work, 156 

Industries in Philadelphia, 251 
Initiative, the, 319 
Inland Waterways, 247 
Insane, care of, 280 
Insurance Commissioner, 271 
Insurance patrol, 100 
Interior, Department of, 272 
Intra-coastal waterway, 247^ 

Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, 105 
Jefferson opposed to great cities, 29 
Jewish Charities, 286 
Johnson Art Collection, 193 
Judges, appointive power of, 302 
method of selecting, 301 
voting for, 364 
Jury, composition of, 296 
Grand, 299 
Juvenile Court, 291 
Kansas City, one of leaders in park 
system, 214 

Kearney School, first school com¬ 
munity center, 170 
Kindergarten, 154 

Labor and Industry, Department of, 
50, 169 

organizations, 262 
Lawmaking in Philadelphia, 310 
Lead Poisoning Act, 268 
Lectures, free, 191 



S74 


INDEX 


Legislation, Direct, 318 
how the people may control, 319 
L’Enfant, Major, designer of Wash¬ 
ington, 201 

Library, Commercial, 2G4 
Free, 190 
Pedagogical, 178 

subscription, founded by Franklin, 
23 

Light House, Kensington, 196 
Lighting, Bureau of, 142 
cost of, 141 

streets by electricity, 138 
streets by gas, 134 
streets by oil, 27 

Lights around City Hall,.commemorat¬ 
ing consolidation, 143 
Lincoln Highway, 213 
Lindsey, Judge Ben, of Denver, 294 
Littering the streets, 70, 75 
Liverpool, a great port, 245 
Livestock Sanitary Board, 33 
Lockstep, not in modern prisons, 304 
London, a great port, 245 
Los Angeles, Public Defender, 301 
Lotteries, to pay for paving, 20 
Manual of Council, 91, 138 
Manufacturer’s Club, 263 
Manufacturing establishments, 252 
Maritime Exchange, 264 
Massachusetts’ ballot, 364 
Mayor’s Veto, 313 
Meat, inspection of, 32 
Mechanics taught in high schools, 172 
Medical inspection, of school children, 

, 46, 165 

department of, 177 
Milk, dangers of impurity, 30 
pasteurization, 31 

Miilheapolis, garbage disposal plant, 

. 75 

Misdemeanants’ Division, 295 
Morris, Robert, 254 
Mortgage, protecting holder of, 307 
Mothers’ Assistance Fund, 282 
Motion Pictures, 194 
Motor cars in city, 205 
Motor Transportation, 239 
Moyamensing Prison, 304 
Municipal Executive Board, 342 
Municipal ownership, 60 
Museum, Commercial, 193, 264 
of Art, 193 

of .University of Pennsylvania, 193 
Music in the schools, 155 
National Guard, 126 
Navigation, Board of Commissioners 
of, 248 

Neighborhood House, 196 


New Orleans, rival of Philadelphia, 
245 

New party, how started, 366 
New York, as a port, 245 
Nomination petitions, 359 
Non-partisan ballot, 364 
Normal School, 173 ^ 

“Nuisanc.es,” definition of, 38 
Occupations in Philadelphia, 255 
Old buildings, preservation of, 225 
Open-air classes for tubercular chil¬ 
dren, 160 

Opportunities for training for occupa¬ 
tion, 257 

Organizations, for business men, 262 
for general public, 265 
for laborers, 262 
Orphans’ Court, 299, 307 
Osborne, Thomas Mott, 304 
Oyer and Terminer, Court of, 299 
Parades a feature of the city, 194 
Park Guards, 125 
Park system of Philadelphia, 214 
Parks, 40, 179, 182 
Parkw^ay of the future, 207, 224 
Parochial schools, 146 
Party machinery, 365 
Pasteurization of milk, 31 
Patent office, 271 

Paving and street cleaning, connection 
between, 84 

Pedagogical Library, 178 
Pedagogy, School of, 175 
Penn, City of, 18 
Penn Treaty Park, 183 
Penn, William, his plan for city, 199, 
324 

Pennypack Creek sew^er, 67 
Permanent Committee on Compre¬ 
hensive Plans, 204 
Personal property tax, 330 
Physical training in schools, 164 
Playgrounds Association, 1^ 

Play streets, 189 
Police, Bureau of, 119, 123 
duties, 114 
Harbor, 121 

power of government, 35 
School, 115 

three-platoon system, 117 
Traffic Squad, 119 
uniform, 124 

Political parties, reason for, 367 
Poor man’s court, 296 
Population of Philadelphia, 251 
Port facilities, 269 

Presidential campaign, how managed, 
366 

Primary election, 357 




INDEX 


375 


Prison reform, 304 
Probation work, 292 
Professions, great field for, 257 
Prohibition amendment, 48 
Property owned by city, 323 
Prothonotary, 303, 367 
Public Defender, 301 
Public Instruction, Department of, 
260 

Public Safety, Department of, 35, 142 
Public Ser\dce Commission, 140, 145, 
269 

Public Works, Department of, 82, 142 
Pumps in Philadelphia’s streets, 51 
Queen Lane filtration plant, 56 
Railroads, 240 

Rapid Transit Company, lease, 237 
Real estate, assessment and taxation, 
331 

Recall, The, 318 

Receiver of Taxes, function of, 337 
Recreation, Board of, 184 
evening centers, 186 
Referendum, The, 319 
Registration, Bureau, 275 
of births and deaths, 48 
“Repeating” at elections, 356 
Representative government, 310 
Revenue of city, 332 
Revision of Taxes, Board of, 332 
Revolution, caused by taxation, 321 
Ringgold ^uare, first of new neigh¬ 
borhood squares, 211 
Rivers and canals, 245 
Riverside Drive, New York, 219 
Roxborough filtration plant, 56 
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, letter from 
Jefferson to, 29 
Sand filters, 58 
School, athletics, 165 
Code, 165 
district, 335 
for Social Service, 146 
gardens, 163 
luncheons, 167 
nurses, 165 

of Industrial Art, 192, 260 
Public Industrial Art, 155 
system, 146 
Textile, 259 
Schools, evening, 162 

equipment of classrooms, 152 

fireproof construction, 149 

heating, 150 

lighting, 150 

of a generation ago, 147 

of to-day, 149 

secondary, 152 

technical, 259 


Schools, trade, 162 
ventilation, 150 
Sentence, indeterminate, 304 
suspended, 305 
Sewage disposal, 39, 67 
Sheriff, duties of, 305 
Shipbuilding center, Philadelphia as a, 
228 

Short ballot, 340 
Smith-Hughes Act, 261 
Snow removal, contractors’ obliga¬ 
tions, 85 

householders’ responsibility, 86 
Social agencies, courts as, 301 
Social Service Department, 274 
South Philadelphia, relocation of rail¬ 
roads in, 242 

“Splitting” the ticket, 364 
Spoils system, 341 
Spring Garden Institute, 260 
Spring Hill Farm, 278 
State Police, 126 
Stenton Park, Germantown, 183 
Stock Exchange, 263 
Street cleaning. Bureau of, 82 
how citizens may assist in, 72 
in Cleveland, 84 
in Franklin’s time, 26 
machines, 78 

work done by contract, 84 
Street lights prevent accidents, 132 
Street names, 19 
Street plans, new type of, 210 
Street railways, 228 
Study, revised courses of, 153 
Suburban electric system, 239 
Subway-elevated system, 231 
Superintendents, Board of, 176 
Surveys, Bureau of, 66, 204, 210 
Suspended Sentence, 305 
“Swamping” the ticket, 357 
Swarthmore College, 259 
Tariff law in operation, 270 
Taxation, 330, 336 
Technical Schools, 259 
Teeth, care of, 45 
Temple University, 146 
Textile School, 259 
Tipstaves, 303 

Torresdale filtration plant, 56 
Torts, classified, 298 
Trade Schools, 162 
Transportation facilities, 228 
Tree planting, 210 

Tubercular children. Open-air classes 
for, 160 

Tussock moth, campaign against, 164 
Typhoid from unpurified water, 53 
Uniform Primaries Act, 360 




376 


INDEX 


Union Fire Company, 24 
United Gas Improvement Company, 
136 

University of Pennsylvania, 146 
University Settlement, 196 
Vaccination as a preventive of disease, 
41 

Vernon Park. Germantown, 183 
Veto, Mayor’s, 318 

QIQ 

Village of Philadelphia, 17 
Vital Statistics, Division of, 48 
Vocational Education, Federal Board 
for, 261 

Vocational Guidance Committee for 
Girls, 170 

Voting, qualifications for, 355 
Ward committees, 365 
Wards of Philadelphia, 315 
Washington, Plan of, 201 
“Watchers,” election, 361 
Water, Bureau of, 56, 61 
filtration system, 54 
first pumping station, 63 
fronts, 217 
meters, 61 


Water, towers used for fires in high 
buildings, 91 
wastage of, 63 
well, 51 

Weights and Measures, Department 
of, 132 

Welfare, Department of Public, 186, 
282 

Welfare League, 304 
Well water, dangerous to health, 51 
Wharves, Department of, 247 
Report of Director of, 249 
Widowed Mothers, Fund for, 282 
William Penn High School for Girls, 
174 

Wills, Register of, 307 
Wingohocking Creek sewer, 65 
Workmen’s Compensation Law, 130, 
267 

Y. M. C. A., 146 
Y. M. H. A., 198 
Y. W. C. A., 198 

Young’s “Memorial History of Phila¬ 
delphia,” 21 

. Zeppelin raids and street lights, 132 
Zoning Commission, 222 


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